A New Start
by JamieSpencer4
Summary: Detective Kevin Ryan finds himself falling fast for a girl who is interning for Lanie. Her name is Cheyenne Sawyer.
1. Chapter 1

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"Why are we going in there? The place looks really creepy!" Jenna asked, following me in to the haunted hotel.

"Jenna, that's the whole point. The purpose of places like these are to scare people, like you." She sighed and followed behind me.

Jake was holding on to my hand. "You girls, excited?" He asked, as we waited in line.

"Yes. Of course." I said, with a smile.

"No. Not at all." Jenna replied.

"Come on. It will be over before you know it and you will begging to go in again." I tried to reassure her, but as always, she wasn't buying it.

"Cheyenne, there's no way I will want to go back in." I shook my head.

The line was finally moving and were able to go in. "Jake."

"What?" He asked. I motioned for him to lean in. "Will you stand next to Jenna? She's kind of scared." He nodded and we switched places.

"Okay, let's do this." I turned to look at Jenna.

"This place might not even to be scary. Remember the haunted corn maze, last year?" I asked. That place was a train wreck.

She nodded, still looking terrified. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. We walked in slowly and I wasn't really able to enjoy anything, because Jenna kept screaming at ever little thing. Obviously, the guy with the chainsaw, wasn't going to chop her into pieces. We finally made it to last room. Jake slipped his hands around my waist and pulled me against him. I smiled and leaned back towards him. Jenna moved past us.

"Are we almost done? Can we just go?" She asked.

"No. It's not over yet."

"Well, I am done, so how do I get out of here?" She asked, clearly mad. I sighed. "Just follow the arrows."

"Don't get scared, by the man with a knife at the end." Jake called after her. "It's my cousin, Jimmy." She flipped him off, and left.

I tried not to laugh, but I couldn't help it. We entered the last room. Jake pushed me against a closet door. "Finally, we are alone." He said, kissing my neck.

I laughed and pulled his face to mine. We had been dating for a couple weeks. I had known him for a year, but until recently, he was kind of a jerk.

"You need to come home with me, tonight." He whispered.

"I don't know, you might have to persuade me." I whispered back. Just as he was about to kiss me, there was a knock against the door, I was pressed up against. I looked up at him.

"Was that you?" I asked.

"No. Probably a skeleton or a ghost." He said, before kissing me. I ran my hands through his hair. Suddenly, a strong smell hit me.

"What's that?" I asked, pushing Jake, off me.

I moved away and just then, the door popped open and a dead body fell out. I looked over at Jake and laughed.

"God, Jenna would be freaking out, if she were here." I looked down, waiting for the guy to get up, but he didn't. I looked at Jake. "Why isn't he getting up?" I looked back down and saw blood.

"I don't know." He bent down and shook the guy, trying to get him to respond. He checked his pulse. "Shit!"

"What?"

"I think he's dead. Really dead." I looked at the body.

"Those are real stab wounds?"

"I think so. We should go tell someone." He held out his hand for mine and we ran out of the room.

About an hour later...

"I told you we shouldn't have gone in there." Jenna said, nudging me with her elbow.

"Just be glad you weren't in there. That was really weird." I shifted back and forth. Something I did out of habit, when I was nervous.

"Ms. Sawyer?" I heard from behind me. I turned to see two detectives looking at me. I noticed one of them had piercing blue eyes. "We're detectives, Ryan and Esposito."

"Yes." I wasn't sure what to say. The man who introduced himself as Detective Ryan, spoke up. "We'd like to take your statement." I nodded and we walked away from Jenna. "Um, well, we were.."

"Who is we?"

"My boyfriend, Jake."

"Jake?" Detective Esposito, asked.

"Campbell. Jake Campbell." He nodded, writing it down. "Anyway, we were in the last room and we were..."

They both looked at me.

"We were, you know, making out." They exchanged a look. I was mortified. "We heard a thump from the closet and then the body fell out the door and at first, I thought it was just part of the skit, but, he wasn't moving and well, Jake bent down and tried to get him to move, but he couldn't. He checked for a pulse and that's when we went and told the manager." I still felt stupid, not knowing the difference between a real dead body and a fake one.

"Anything else?" Detective Ryan, asked. "Did you see anyone leaving the room, before you entered?" I thought back and shook my head.

"Uh, my friend, Jenna" I pointed over to her. "She left before we entered the room, maybe she saw someone." I said. Detective Ryan looked at Detective Esposito and motioned over towards Jenna. He gave me a small smile and walked over away.

"Anything else?" He asked me.

"Not that I can remember. I don't remember seeing anything out of place, before we found that guy." I thought back to the guy laying on the floor, the blood on his back. Who would kill someone like that?

"Thank you. You should be free to go in awhile. " He smiled.

"Do you know who that guy is?" I asked. He gave me a interesting look.

"I mean, was he married? Have kids?" I noticed tears starting to form. I shook my head. "I'm sorry. Forget I asked."

"We don't know much about him as of right now." He answered.

I nodded. "Just feel bad."

"Why would you feel bad?" He asked.

"Because, when he first fell out of the closet, I laughed. That was my first reaction."

"Well you were in a haunted hotel, It was an honest mistake. A lot of people would have probably acted the same way." I felt a little better. "I probably would have." He smiled.

"Thank you." I smiled. He nodded and left.

I walked back over to the car and searched for Jake. I saw him talking to another detective. A woman detective. She looked vaguely familiar. There was a man standing next to her. A man I knew. Richard Castle. What was he doing here? Wait. He worked with a detective. I remembered hearing that from his daughter, Alexis. Jake walked away from them and walked towards me.

"Hey baby, how are you doing?" He asked, hugging me.

"I'm okay." I answered. "You want to come over tonight?" He asked, stroking my hair. That was tempting.

"I think I should go home. After seeing that tonight, I just don't feel like it. You understand, right?"

"Of course." I looked up at home.

"Jenna will give me a ride home."

"I can take you home." He offered. I shook my head and backed away.

"Shane wouldn't like that. Just let Jenna, do it, okay?" He nodded, but looked upset.

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" He asked, holding my head up by my chin.

"I will." I smiled, the best smile I could manage. He bent down and softly kissed me.

"Bye."

"Bye." I waved. Jenna came over after Jake got in his car.

"Will you give me a lift?" I asked.

"Sure."

"I am so sorry, I begged you to come here tonight."

"It's not your fault this happened. I don't blame you."

"Good." I breathed, a sigh of relief. We were making our way back to her car. Shane was going to freak when he heard about this.

"Cheyenne?" I knew the voice as soon as I heard it. I turned around to see Richard Castle.

"Hey, Mr. Castle." I waved.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I was one of the people who found the body." I replied, looking over his shoulder I saw, them moving the body.

"Are you okay?" He seemed concern.

"Yes. I'm fine."

"Castle?"

We both heard. He turned around and I saw that it was the blue eyed detective. I think it was Detective Ryan. He looked to me and gave a small smile.

"Yes."

"Beckett is looking for you."

"Always is." He smiled. "Detective Ryan, this is Cheyenne Sawyer."

"We actually already met." I informed him.

"How?"

"I took her statement." He answered.

"Oh."

"How do you know each other?" He asked, Castle.

"Cheyenne went to school with Alexis." He explained.

"Speaking of Alexis, I lost her number. Can you tell her to call me the next time you happen to see her?"

"Of course."

"Well we should get going. Goodbye Mr. Castle."

"Cheyenne, you aren't 16 anymore, you can call me Rick or Castle." I nodded.

"Goodnight, Rick or Castle."

He smiled. "Nice."

"Goodbye, Detective." I looked over to him.

"Goodbye."


	2. Chapter 2

Kevin's POV...

"Anything back on financials?" Beckett asked, while I took a sip of coffee.

"Nothing yet." I sighed.

"You okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine, just tired."

"I can tell you, you look like a wreck."

"Thanks for noticing." I leaned back in my chair.

I had so much work to do. Why did this have to be happening? I was having a hard time concentrating. Ever since I started seeing her on a daily basis, I couldn't stop thinking about her. Her beautiful smile. Her dark eyes, that sparkled and left me mesmerized. Her dark hair, that always smelled like green apple. I was attracted to her, but I needed to stop it. I was going through a divorce. I shouldn't be wondering about some girl. The thing was, she wasn't just some girl. She was like a breath of fresh air. She was smart, funny, generous, sweet, and caring. I sighed and sat up in my chair. I needed to stop this. This wasn't right. It wasn't even possible for us to be together. I was going through things right now. She was in a relationship. I just needed to focus on my work, not her. She was out of my mind.

"Kevin?" Damn. I knew her voice anywhere. I looked over, and couldn't help, but notice how beautiful she looked. I smiled. "Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Well, since you are always getting me coffee, I figured I would get you coffee this time." She smiled and held out the coffee.

I took it.

"Thank you, I really needed this."

"No problem. Are we still on for lunch?" She asked.

"Of course. I will be there at 1:30." I replied.

"Great! Well I should get back. See you later." She waved before leaving.

It took all the strength I could conjure, not to watch her as she walked away. Why did I enjoy torturing myself?

Cheyenne's POV...

"I got your coffee." I announced, placing it on Lanie's desk. She looked up and smiled.

"Thanks."

"So, what else do you have for me?" I asked.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Absolutely." I lied. She got up and picked up a huge stack of files.

"Here you go, sweetie."

"Oh great!" I said, with a bit too much sarcasm. I grabbed the stack and brought it over to my desk. "Here we go." I sighed.

After a few hours, I was in the middle of my rhythm. I hated paperwork. I thought it was great, but a few three weeks, that changed. I was very grateful that Rick and Alexis helped me to be able to intern here, but Alexis could have warned me about the endless paperwork.

"Hello, Detective Ryan." I heard Lanie, say to Kevin.

"Hello, Dr. Parish." He replied back, giving her a weird look.

"You two have fun." She left with a cheesy smile. She always did that. She was really childish at times.

"Hey." I said, moving my smaller stack, to the side.

"Hey." He came over and sat down.

"Ever get tired of paperwork?" I asked. He must have to do this all the time.

"Like you wouldn't believe." He smiled. "Glad I'm not the only one." He laughed. "Hey, I watched that movie you suggested."

"You did! Did you get scared?"

"Duh." He said, before taking a drink.

"I knew it." I laughed.

"The part with the hand coming out from under the bed." He shook his head. "That was the creepiest thing."

"I know. It got me too, but you have to admit, getting scared isn't a little fun, right"?"

He nodded and handed me something that was in a wrapped box.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Something you asked for." He said.

"I asked for something?" I couldn't remember. I opened the box to find a NYPD sweatshirt. Oh my god. I did ask for this. "You remembered?"

He nodded. "Now you don't have to borrow mine when you get cold." He smiled. I put down the sweatshirt and hugged him.

"Thank you." I think I threw him off guard, cause he almost spilled his drink.

"It's okay, don't worry. I didn't go through any trouble." He hugged me back.

I sat back down and smiled. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone in the doorway. With a double glance I discovered it was Jake. He gave me a small smile. "Jake? What are you doing here?" I asked, getting up.

"Just came by to see you before I left tonight." I gave him a hug and kiss.

"That's amazing!" I remembered Kevin was here. "Oh, I want you to meet one of the most amazing detectives in the entire city." I pulled him over to Kevin. "Jake, this is Detective Kevin Ryan. Kevin, this is my boyfriend, Jake."

Kevin held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice meet you too." Jake shook his hand, but he had a weird look in his eyes. Thankfully, I think Kevin didn't notice.

"Well I will leave you two alone." Kevin said, grabbing his things.

"Okay, thanks for the shirt, again."

"No problem." He turned towards us and nodded before leaving.

I sat down and patted the chair for Jake.

"So, that is Kevin?"

"Yes." I replied, cleaning the mess I had made, by spilling my water. He leaned over and had a serious look on his face. "What?" I asked.

"Why was he down here with you...alone?"

"We were having lunch."

"Just lunch?" He asked.

"Yes. Just lunch." Was he suggesting what I thought he was?

"I have no reason to suspect otherwise, do I?" He couldn't be serious.

"Really? You have got to be kidding me?"

"What?"

"There is nothing going on between me and him."

"Who said there was?"

"You know what?" I stood up. "If you are going to be acting this way, I really wish you would just go."

"I should get going anyways." He stood up and looked at me. "By the way, I don't like that he is giving you presents. It's not his job."

"He was just being nice."

"Yeah, whatever." He left. Did he really need to be such an ass? He started this like a few weeks ago. It was getting old. How could he think there was anything going on between Kevin and I?

"Hey munchkin." Javier said, in the doorway.

"Hey." I said, picking up the completed files and moving them.

"Is Lanie down here?" He asked.

"No. I think she is on her break. She left like 20 minutes ago."

"Alright, figured I would check down here." He smiled. How clueless, did he think I was? It was obvious he liked her.

"If you stick around, she might be back in a few minutes." I prompted.

"Um, it's nothing important, can you just have her call me. I need to ask her about something with the case we are working on." He was stumbling over his words.

"Right." I nodded, with a smile.

"See you later, okay?" He asked leaving. "Hey where did you get that sweatshirt?" He pointed at shirt Kevin got me.

"Kevin."

"Kevin?"

"He got one for me."

"Really? He must have paid a lot of for that."

"He said, they didn't cost much."

"Yeah, right. Only if you think $80 isn't a lot."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah." He nodded, leaving the room.

Why would Kevin spend that much money on me? Javier had to be confused. I finished off the files and logged out. Lanie came in.

"Hey girl." She called out.

"Hey."

"You're done already?"

"Sure am."

"Wow. You are really fast at that."

I smiled. "Well I am going to get going, okay?"

"Sure." She smiled.

When I got to the door, I turned around. "Javier wanted me to tell you to call him. Something about the case you are working on." I saw a smile spread across her face.

"Thanks for relaying the message." She smiled at me.

"No problem." I left. Maybe Javier wasn't the only one with a crush. I took the elevator up. I was always a little uneasy on elevators. My mind always went to the worse case scenario. I closed my eyes and tried to maintain a calm breathing rhythm. When the doors opened, I tired to make a quick escape, but I ran into someone. I looked up the see Javier.

"Slow down, Munchkin." He replied.

"Sorry."

"No worries." He smiled.

"On your way to see Lanie?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah." He fidgeted.

"I'll see you later." I didn't want to give him a hard time on it. He nodded and entered the elevator. I was walking to my car, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I jumped a little and turned around to find Kevin.

"I didn't mean to scare you." He apologized.

"It's okay." I smiled. I was reminded by the shirt in my hand. "Hey can I ask you something?"

"Anything." He smiled.

"This shirt." I held it up. " I heard it was pretty expensive to get these." I saw a glimmer of nervousness on his face.

"Who did you hear that from?"

"Javier."

"Well even if it were true, what does it matter?"

"You shouldn't be spending money on me, especially, that amount of money."

"I didn't mind it."

"I do though."

"Why?" He asked, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"If you spent that much on me, I would feel bad, because I have nothing to give you."

"Just accept the gift and that will be enough for me." He smiled.

"Kevin!" I whined.

"Just keep it. Please?"

"Are you sure? I grew pretty used to yours?" I said.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah and it always smelled good." I commented. I looked over to see him with a smile.

"Well, you don't have to accept it."

"Great, now if I give it back, I will feel guilty."

He laughed. "A guy can't win with you, huh?"

"Fine. I will take it, but be prepared detective, I will pay you back." I poked his chest.

"Is that a threat?"

"Just watch your back, Ryan." I warned.

"Interesting." He smiled.

"Very." I put the shirt over my arm. " I should get going. I have to work tonight."

"Yeah. I got a late shift."

"You poor thing." I fake pouted. "I will see you, Friday, right?"

"You should." He ran his hand through his hair.

"Well be careful." I hugged him.

"Always am." He hugged back.

I stepped back. "See you." I smiled. I walked by him and thought I heard him sigh, but when I turned around, he was walking away.

He was a complicated guy. Not sure if that was a bad thing.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry this is a short chapter. The next one will be a lot longer, I promise. Please leave me reviews.

It had been a few days since I had seen Jake, I was hoping things between us would go back to how they were, but he was really distant. The only time he would talk to me or even look at me was when he wanted something. Things were just different now. Ever since he accused me of cheating on him, my feelings for him had changed. How could he think I would do something like that to him? He would only sleep in the room with me, if he thought he was going to have sex. It was like living with a stranger. I didn't like it, but I held out hope that things would get better. I just wished I wasn't wasted my time.

Whenever I would talk to someone about Jake, they would tell me to just dump him and move on. They all thought I could do better. I, however, wasn't so sure about that.

I grabbed my jacket, that was sitting on the back of the chair Jake was sitting in. "I have to go put in my hours." I said, hoping to start some kind of dialogue with him. All he did was nod, he wouldn't look up from his laptop. I sighed. "What are you going to do for dinner?" I asked.

"Going over to Sam's." He still wouldn't look at me.

"Good. Are you staying over there tonight or here?"

"Don't know yet."

"Okay." I nodded. "Can I get a kiss before I leave?"

"Sure." He stood up and finally looked at me. The kiss was cold, there was no emotion there. "I'll see you later." He walked past me and went into the kitchen. I felt like I just got punched in my stomach.

Those interactions became more and more often. He wouldn't even come in the same room and talk to me. He would just yell. I didn't know how long I could deal with this situation. It was already starting to affect me with work and school. I couldn't concentrate as much I was wanted. I would be in the middle of a lecture and then I would just be thinking about Jake. I wasn't happy, but what if this was just a phase?

One day, I grabbed lunch with Jenna. I hadn't seen or talked to her in weeks. She was my best friend, but I sure wasn't treating her like mine. I never answered when she would text or call. I felt very bad. She didn't anything wrong. I figured instead of sitting home, worrying about my current relationship, I would do something different. When I called to see if she wasn't to have lunch with me, she seemed genuinely shocked, which made me feel even worse.

"So how has everything been going for you?" I asked. I wanted to know everything. She gave me a weird look, but talked.

"Everything is going pretty good actually. Been picking up more hours at work and doing good in all my classes." She smiled.

"That's really great."

"What about you?" She asked. I was afraid to tell her. I wasn't doing as well as her. Work was going okay, but I wasn't doing as well in my classes. My mood was starting affect a lot of things in my life. It wasn't for the good either. I decided to lie.

"Things are going good." I said, as convincingly as possible. "School is a little difficult, but nothing I can't handle." I put on a fake smile. She didn't say anything, she just nodded and finished eating.

"So how long has it been going on?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not stupid. I can see the difference in you." I shifted around in my seat. "When is the last time you ate an entire meal?" She pointed at my plate. Almost all my food was still there.

"I eat. I just haven't had much of an appetite lately."

"Don't lie to me." Her look was very serious. I sighed and looked down. "Leave him." I heard her say. "What?"

"You heard me. Leave him. He is holding you down and I don't like seeing it." She put her hand on mine.

"Its not that easy." I shifted again.

"Of course it is."

"What if this is just a phase?" I asked.

"What if it isn't a phase and its just the beginning of the end? Get out now, before you get hurt more than you already have." I felt her eyes on me, but I couldn't look her in the eyes.

After lunch, she gave me a hug and begged me to call if I needed anything or just wanted to talk. I nodded. I knew she was trying to help me, but I just couldn't wrap my head around leaving him. I needed and wanted this to work.

Kevin's POV...

I knocked on the door, with a big smile on my face. The opened to reveal my friend and partner. "Hey, bro. What's up?" He greeted and gestured for me to come in.

"It's done!" I nearly screamed.

"Done? What's done?"

"My marriage. It's over. The divorce was finalized today."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I can't believe its over, but it is. I thought it would take forever to get finalized."

"Well congrats...I guess." He walked into the kitchen. "Want a beer?"

"Sure." I sat down on his couch. I couldn't believe it. I was finally single.

"So I have a question for you." Javi said, coming back into the living room.

"What?" I asked, taking the beer.

"Is there something in the coffee at work?" He asked, which caused me to do a double take.

"What are you talking about?"

"Haven't you noticed that everyone has been acting a lot more aggressive lately?"

"What do you mean?"

"The women. Beckett, was being quiet and closed off. Lanie was acting the same way and munchkin, wasn't even willing to talk to me today."

"I don't know about Lanie or Beckett, but Cheyenne has been acting weird for the past couple weeks."

"I know. You talk to her a hell of a lot more than I do. Is she okay?"

"I don't know, she hasn't been talking to me either."

"I have a question and you should answer this question honestly."

"What?" I took a drink. He sighed.

"Is there something going on, you know, between you guys?" I almost choked on my beer.

"Cheyenne and me?" He nodded. "Be honest bro."

"There's nothing going on between us." He seemed a little disappointed. "What?" I asked at his reaction.

"Nothing man, I just thought it would be sort of great if there were something going on."

"She has a boyfriend, Javi."

"So she isn't married to the guy and don't even tell me you are attracted to her." I sighed. He was right. I was. Now that I was officially single, I only wished more that she was too.

"It doesn't matter."

"It doesn't. Why not?" I shook my head.

"Come on man, lets play some madden."

"Pathetic." He huffed sitting next to me. He didn't bring it back up again, which I was grateful for.

I was never the best at madden, but after he brought up the idea of something happening between Cheyenne and I, I couldn't get her out of my mind. Javi, knew when I wasn't moving or even using the controller.

"Dude. What are you doing?"

"Uh, sorry, I am just thinking about stuff."

"Like?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Then play and stop being a girl." He nudged my arms with his. I nodded and tried to pay as much attention as possible.


	4. Chapter 4

Cheyenne's POV...

"Lanie, the computer keeps freezing." This computer had been freezing all week. I was getting frustrated, but I knew I couldn't take it out on Lanie. I had already been rude enough to her here lately, but I was going to make it up to her and everyone else I had been rude to, which included everyone.

"Restart it, hun." I sighed and nodded. While I sat there and waited for the computer to start back up, I kept staring at my phone that went off every 30 seconds or so. I didn't need to look, I knew who it was.

"Did that help?" Lanie, asked leaning against the desk.

"Too soon to know." I replied.

"Whoa! 42 unread text messages!" She exclaimed. "Damn girl, how popular are you?" I sighed.

"Unfortunately they are all from the same person."

"Want to talk about it?" She offered.

"Its Jake. He has been acting weird for awhile. He went from ignoring me, to becoming clingy. I don't know what to do. It's like both versions of him, annoy the hell out of me."

"Seems like you should know what to do."

"I don't know. I have thought so many times about leaving him, but.." I was starting to get insecure.

"You can tell me." She said, putting her hand over mine.

"What if I leave him and I find out nobody else wants me?"

"First off all, you should never stay in a relationship, just because you are afraid to be alone. That isn't healthy. Secondly, I know you wouldn't have to worry."

"How?" I asked, signing back into the computer.

"Girl, I could list about 10 different guys, who can't keep their eyes off of you, on a daily basis."

"That's just them looking at me, that doesn't mean anything." She smiled.

"Okay. Well, I could list one guy who seems pretty into you. Someone who may actually have feelings for you." The smile was still plastered on her face.

"Yeah? And who would that be?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe just a guy who has lunch with you almost everyday." She got up.

"Wait. Kevin? He isn't into me Lanie. He is just being nice. We are just friends." She stopped walking and turned around.

"Friends? Well lets see. I have know Kevin for a very long time and he only came down here to see me about a case, but since you have been here, he comes down here not just for lunch, but for everything. To bring us coffee's or to just talk. He never did that before." She returned to her desk, when I failed to say anything. She had to be joking. Kevin was just my friend. That's all. She was probably just trying to make me feel better.

After I was done with everything, I walked over to her desk. "You leaving?" She asked, typing on her computer.

"Yes." I replied, but didn't move. She waited a few moments before she looked up.

"Can I help you with anything?" She asked, confused.

"Yes. You can come with me."

"Where to?" She asked, paying full attention to me.

"Dinner."

"Why?"

"As an apology."

"Apology?"

"Yes. I have been really rude these past few weeks and you didn't deserve it, so I want to try and make up for it. Not just you, but everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Yes. Javier, Kevin, Castle, and Beckett."

"And you are paying?" She asked, with a smile.

"Yes." I sighed. "I will be paying."

"Well I have a little bit left to do. So go ahead and I will meet up with you and the guys in a few minutes, okay?" I nodded and left the room.

This was good. I was going to do something nice. I hoped they all could forgive me. I mean I had been extremely rude. I nearly bit Castle's head off a week ago, because he asked me why I looked so tired. I felt bad. He had never been rude to me. He didn't do anything wrong. I was also mean to Beckett. She accidentally spilled coffee on me and I was a complete bitch to her. Then there was Kevin and Javier, who I basically had ignored for the past few weeks. Every time they tried to start a conversation with me, I would get up and leave or just not respond. Kevin quit coming down to have lunch with me. I was going through a lot, but there was no need for me to act that way, especially to such great people.

When I saw Beckett, Castle and Javier standing at Beckett's desk, I knew now was the perfect time. I walked up and greeted them.

"Hi." Castle said, seeming a little distant. Beckett and Javier echoed, Castle.

"Are you guys busy?" They didn't say anything. I sighed. So this wasn't going to be easy. "Are you guys...hungry?" I asked. Javier's head shot up and turned around.

"Hungry?"

"I uh, want to take you guys out for dinner, because of how I have treated you in the past few weeks." I felt really dumb. "I want to try and apologize."

"You going to pay for all of us?" Beckett asked.

I nodded. "Lanie and Kevin as well, so what do you say?"

"Free food. How could I resist?" Javier said, giving me a hug. I laughed.

"Castle? Beckett?"

"Can I pick the place?" Castle asked.

"Remember, I am living on a waitress's salary."

"I will pick a place that is classy, elegant, and most importantly, pleasantly affordable." He winked.

"Okay, I guess."

"Awesome! We're in." He smiled. Then looked at Beckett scared. "We are, aren't we?"

"Yes." She replied, with a smile.

"Great!" I starting looking around. "Where's Kevin?" I asked.

"I think, he is either in the break room or storage room." Javier said, looking around.

"Alright. I will see you in a second." I took off to find him. I hoped he wasn't mad at me. Not that I could blame him if he were.

He wasn't in the break room, so that left me with the storage room. He walked down the hallway, to see Kevin heading my way. "Kevin." I said, with a wave. How could I ever be mean to him? He was such a good guy.

"Hey." He smiled. Good. A smile was good. He can't be too mad at me. When he caught up to me, I gave him a hug.

"What's wrong?" He asked, sounding startled.

"I'm sorry, I have been so rude to you lately."

"Oh, it's okay."

"No it isn't Kevin, you have never ever been rude or mean to me. You didn't deserve for me to act that way towards you." I backed away.

"It's okay."

"No. I have been going through some things, but I should have never took it out on you. So will you let me make it up to you, by taking you out for dinner?" He got an amused look on his face.

"Like a date?" He asked.

"Oh, no. I'm taking everyone out, not just you." My phone buzzed. probably another text. I looked back up to Kevin.

"Sure. I would love to go."

"Awesome!" I nearly screamed. He laughed as we made out way back to the others.

Kevin's POV...

"Like a date?" I asked, trying not to get my hopes up.

"Oh, no. I'm taking everyone out, not just you." She said, looking down at her phone. Luckily she didn't see the frown on my face. I should have known better she would never think of me that way. She looked up at me. Even if it wasn't a date, I wasn't going to turn her down.

"Sure. I would love to go." I replied as happily as I could.

"Awesome!" She declared. I couldn't help, but laugh. She was back to herself, at least in this moment.

We all went out for dinner. It was really fun, just to relax and laugh. Cheyenne made me sit next to her. She told me a little bit about how her and her boyfriend were going through some problems. I wondered if it made me bad person to be a little happy. I mean I didn't want her to be unhappy, but I wished she would wake up and leave this guy. He obviously wasn't the right guy for her. I also knew I wasn't good enough for her either. After dinner she tired to pay, but Castle wouldn't allow her to do that. It caused a bit of an argument between them. While they argued, the rest of us laughed at them.

"Castle, I invited you to dinner, that means you can't pay."

"Says who?"

"It's a rule."

"Who's rule?"

"Mine." She seemed, angry. I covered my mouth with my hand, so she wouldn't see my smile.

"I'm not letting you pay."

"Castle!" She whined.

"Look your apology has been accepted, right?" He asked, looking at us. We all nodded. "So I am paying. It isn't a big deal."

"It is to me."

"Well, I am sure you will get over it." She stuck out her tongue at him, which caused us all to laugh again.

I think she finally gave in and realized she wasn't going to get her way. She did however, negotiate with Castle, stating that he could pay for dinner, but she was leaving the tip. He agreed. She still seemed upset. It was cute.

Once everyone left, I saw her sitting at the table by herself. She looked sort of lost.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I sat down next to her.

"Oh, nothing, just wishing I didn't have to go home, I will be okay though." She said, with a smile. She was as good as I was at the fake smile, which meant I could see right through it. I hated that she was in this situation, but there wasn't anything I could do.

"Well if it is any constellation, I had a great time tonight, so thank you."

"You mean, thanks to Castle?"

"No. You. You planned it, because you wanted to do something nice and you did. So again, thank you."

She smiled and gave me a hug. I hugged her back. I felt her sigh against me. I had to remind myself, that she was in a relationship. She wasn't with me. Whether I liked it or not.

"You're a good friend." She smiled. She got up. "I will see you on Monday." She said before leaving.

"Bye." I waved. Friend. That's all I was. I was her friend. I looked down and sighed. I needed to get over her. If that was even possible.


	5. Chapter 5

Cheyenne's POV...

"Babe?" I heard Jake, calling for me. I was wiping down the counter in the kitchen.

"What?" I yelled.

"When are you leaving?" I sighed. Why couldn't he just walk in here?

"What?" I called, hoping he would stop yelling.

"When are you leaving?" He screamed. I sighed. Okay, this was enough. I put down, the rag and went into the room.

"Why can't you just come out there and talk to me, you know, like a human being?" I was so tired of him.

"Calm down, hun. I just want to know when you are leaving."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" I was getting so frustrated with him. All he did was boss me around. It was getting ridiculous. I was so tired of it.

"Why are you freaking out?" He asked, acting perfectly innocent.

"You keep treating like I am your maid or something! You can't come into the other room and ask me a question? You have to yell?" I sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"No you aren't. You never are. You give me a fake ass apology and then you keep doing the same annoying thing! I can't deal with this!"

"Cheyenne, just take a deep breathe and come here." He held his arms opened to me. He was going to try and sweet talk his way out of this. I couldn't do this.

"No." I walked out of the room and grabbed my bag. I had to get ready to go anyways.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Oh. So now you can come out here?"

"Where are you going?"

"Where do you think? I have been leaving at the same time for awhile now!"

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes. That was it.

"I am leaving and I want you out of here, now!"

"Are you kicking me out?" He asked, throwing his arms up.

"Yes and I am breaking up with you. When I come back, I want you gone!" The argument was the final straw. Ever since he moved in with me, things had become more tense between us. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed him gone if I was ever going to keep my sanity.

After watching him finally leave, I took off. I was hoping the drive to work, would cool me off, I didn't need anyone seeing me worked up like this. Especially Lanie. She would grill me about this until I finally gave in and told her. The weight didn't leave me shoulders. I thought dumping him, would make me feel better, but I was still wound up.

"Hey, Lanie." I said, walking past her.

"Hey, girl." She said, looking at me.

"What?" I looked down and saw nothing wrong with my clothes, they were on right.

"You look tense." She said, looking back down at the body laying on the table. Damn, how did she know?

"Just been a long day."

"I can tell."

I sat down at the computer and logged in. "So what do you have for me today?" I asked. I really wanted to work and keep my mind off of Jake.

"You can start with these." She grunted, putting a huge stack of files on my desk. I was a little worried about how long it would take me, but I would rather be here than home alone.

"Thanks." I said, with a smile.

A few hours later, I went to get a coffee for Lanie and I. On my way out, I bumped into Javier and Kevin. I nearly fell, but Javier caught me before, I could do any damage to myself.

"Where you going, munchkin?" He asked, while I caught my balance.

"Coffee run." I said, slightly embarrassed.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, Javier."

"No problem." I gave them both a smile, before leaving the room.

I was pouring coffee, when my cell beeped. I grabbed it out of my pocket. It was a text from Jake, informing me that he wasn't going anywhere because we needed to talk. Why didn't I ask for my key back? I was so fed up. I wanted to scream, but I didn't want to draw attention to myself. I opted for kicking the trash can sitting next to me. The contents fell all over the floor and I wasn't feeling any better. I sighed and went over to pick it up. While reaching for a soda can, but before I could, another hand did. I looked up, to see Kevin. His eyes, were just as blue as ever, but I saw concern in them.

"Are you okay?" He asked. I sighed and shook my head. I was tired of pretending. "What's wrong?"

"Its Jake. I broke up with him earlier."

"Oh." He looked confused. "I am so sorry."

"Thanks. I asked him to leave before I left to come here, but he just texted me, telling me he wasn't going anywhere, so I am just really upset."

"And you took it out on the trash?" He asked.

"Yeah. I know it was stupid, but I figured screaming, would have been worse." I finished picking up everything.

"He won't leave?" Kevin asked, after we stood up.

"Apparently not. It sucks, cause I don't want to go home, because he will be there and I just can't deal with him right now." I looked at him, feeling more embarrassed than earlier. He had his head down.

"Well, you know, you could always have Javi and I go talk to him." He suggested.

"No." I nearly screamed. "I mean, thank you for the offer, but I don't think that would help anything." Jake wasn't a fan of Kevin's.

"Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?" He asked, moving closer to me.

"No. It's too late to call anyone to ask if I could stay. I might just crash here." I said, pouring another cup of coffee.

"No, that's ridiculous, you need a good night sleep and you aren't going to get that here."

"I don't have another option." I gave him a soft smile. He didn't need to worry about me.

"You could stay with me." His voice sounded, shaky. I looked over at him, to see if he was being serious and he was looking at the ground.

"Thank you, Kevin, but I wouldn't want to bother you."

"How could you do that? I am inviting you and it would be rude of you to decline." My jaw fell.

"That's mean."

"It's the truth." He smiled.

"Are you sure?" He nodded. "Okay, then." I nodded my head and poured out my coffee. "I have to take this to Lanie." As Kevin and I walked in the morgue, Lanie and Javier were in the middle of a make out session. I looked over to Kevin, who let out a cough. I had never seen two people jump and walk away from each other so quickly.

"So Lanie, just uh," Javier started, looking flustered. "Let me know when you get those results back, okay?" He walked over towards Kevin and I.

"Sure thing." Lanie, hadn't looked up from the folder in her hands. I slowly walked over and sat the coffee down in front of her. I didn't want to be at the end of one of those stares she gave people, when they stuck their nose in her business.

"Thanks." She said, still looking down. "I'm going to check out. I put in my hours."

"Okay, sweetie. I will see you on Thursday."

"See you." I said, grabbing my jacket in purse. I logged out of the computer. When I walked back in the hall, Kevin was leaning against the wall. He gave me an amused look.

"Do they honestly think we are that stupid?" I asked, with a laugh.

"Probably." He replied. When we got into his car, I was feeling a little weird. I didn't want things to get weird between us. Maybe, I was thinking about this too much. He was just being nice, that's all. I mean this was Kevin Ryan. He was the sweetest guy on the planet. He was always generous, not just to me, but to everyone. I shook my head and hated myself, for thinking badly about him.

The ride to his place was quiet. I was a little relieved. I was so happy, I didn't have to go home and talk to Jake. Maybe in the morning, he would finally get the hint and leave.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." I said, as we got to his door. "Just thinking." I smiled. He smiled back and unlocked the door. He let me in first and flipped the light on. The first thing that hit me, was that his place, was clean. Like very clean. It smelled clean. How was that possible? I lived with a guy, they were not clean.

"Wow. You are not like any guy I know." I commented, sitting my purse on his couch.

"What's that mean?"

"Do you have a cleaning lady?" He gave me a weird look.

"No."

"You aren't messy?"

"Messy house, messy life."

"How's that working out for you?" I asked.

"Touché."

"You don't have a clean place?" He asked.

"No. I live with a guy or did. It's almost always a disaster."

"Well not all men are alike."

"That's good to know." I said.

"You can sit down. Can I get you anything? Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine." He ran his hand through his hair. I looked around and saw a picture of two little girls on his coffee table. The smallest who looked like she was five was the spitting image of him. I leaned in closer.

"Do you have a daughter?" I asked, grabbing the picture.

"No." He came and sat down next to me on the couch. "Those are my nieces Allison and Sadie." He smiled, looking at the picture.

"She looks just like you." I said, pointing, to the little blonde.

He laughed. "Yeah, she even has the shining blue eyes."

"They are going to break a lot of hearts, I suspect." I put the picture back on the table.

"Sound like you know the type." He said.

"My sister was like that. She had a different boyfriend every week in high school."

"Not you?" He asked. I laughed.

"Are you kidding me? I had a steady boyfriend junior year, but other than that I was invisible to guys."

"Yeah right."

"What?" I asked with a laugh.

"I just find that hard to believe."

"Well it's true nonetheless." I said, looking down. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Girlfriends?" I asked. "You had to have had, lots of girlfriends, in high school."

"Two." He replied.

"Just two?"

"Yes." I shook my head, in disbelief.

"So, do you need any clothes to sleep in?" He asked.

"I can just sleep in these clothes, its not a big deal."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Kevin, you are already letting me stay here tonight, that's all I am willing to accept."

"Well its not a big deal to me."

"You're too nice." I smiled.

"I get that a lot."

"I wonder why?" I said, taking off my jacket and sitting back.

"So I was thinking I could crash out here, if you want the bed?" Was he serious.

"No. I got the couch."

"Its not that comfortable." He warned.

"Its okay. I sleep on the floor most nights."

"You don't have a bed?" He asked.

"I do. It's just that I don't get stay on it for long." He gave me a weird look. "Jake kicks and moves around a lot in this sleep, so I usually get kicked on the floor, so I am sure the couch will be just fine." He shook his head. "What?" I asked, feeling insecure.

"Nothing." He said, sitting up.

"Yeah right. Nobody gives look like that for no reason."

"Can I be honest?"

"I'd love it if you were." I replied.

"Jake, sounds like a huge dick." I laughed.

"He really is."

"Why did you put up with him for so long?" That was a great question.

"I guess I had a fear of being alone."

"I'm fairly certain, you would find someone, no problem."

"Why are you so sweet?"

"Just being honest." He smiled. I smiled. It was then that I saw it. I never really noticed all that much before, but he was very attractive. I had always noticed his eyes, but now they were just one of the features he had that made him attractive. I knew I should have looked away. He probably thought I was a creeper or something. I was going to look away, but just then I saw him lean in closer to me. I didn't know what to do, so I froze up. I didn't have time to think about what was going to happen, because his lips were on mine in a heartbeat. I wanted to pull back, but I couldn't. I didn't know if it was because I was stressed or if it was all Kevin. Maybe a mixture. I kissed him back, while his hands wrapped around my waist. He pulled me closer to him. I climbed on top of him and lightly bit his bottom lip. His hands moved to my ass and squeezed. I felt his tongue enter my mouth and trail across mine. I moaned into the kiss. It felt so good. His hands cupped my face and pulled me back. His eyes were so bright. "You are so beautiful." He whispered. I smiled. I leaned in to kiss him again, but something was wrong. I was suddenly on the ground. I groaned. All of a sudden the light came on and Kevin helped me up.

"What happened?" He asked. It was a dream. All of it. I couldn't tell him that though.

"Uh, I fell."

"I told you to take the bed. Are you okay?" He asked, sitting me on the couch.

"Yes. I am fine. No worries." I smiled."Sorry I woke you up."

"It's okay. Wasn't sleeping."

"Why?"

"Doesn't matter." He said. "Go back to sleep, okay?" His hand, trailed down my arm and I got goosebumps.

"Okay." I nodded.

He walked back into his bedroom and closed the door, but left a crack in it.

Sleep. How was I supposed to sleep? I just had a dream about him being all over me. If that wasn't bad enough. I was enjoying it way too much. That definitely made me see Kevin in a new light. He wasn't just the funny detective anymore. He was also, sexy. I whimpered and buried my head in the pillow. This wasn't good. Not at all.


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up the next morning with 17 text messages from Jake. When I read them, I noticed they were all the same, practically. He wanted to know where I was. What I was doing. Who I was with. When I was coming home. The last text message, said that he wanted me to come home, because he wanted to talk to me. I turned off my phone and leaned my head back.

This was insane, why did I have to like terrible guys? Why couldn't I just pick a good guy for once? Were there any good guys left?

"Good morning." I heard coming the other side of the room. I looked over. Kevin was standing in the doorway.

"Good morning." I echoed getting up.

"Did you sleep alright?"

I nodded. "Only fell off the couch once." I said, with a small laugh.

"Good." He smiled and entered the kitchen. "So are you hungry?" He asked.

"No, thank you." I put on my jacket. "I'm not really a breakfast person."

"Good." He laughed. "I have no breakfast foods."

"What if I would have been hungry?" I asked.

"I would have panicked." He laughed.

"At least you're honest." I was kind of taken aback by his smile. I had seen him smile before, but I hadn't really noticed it like this before. I looked down quickly. Damn that dream. Would I ever be able to look at him normal again? "So do you have to be to work early?" I asked. He was looking down at his phone.

"Yeah. I just got a text from Javi."

I nodded. "Well um, could you give me a lift home?"

He gave me a weird look. "Sure, but isn't Jake there?"

I nodded.

"Are you sure you want to go back there?" He asked, seeming really concerned.

"I have no choice. I live there."

"I will take you, if you are really sure about it."

I nodded. "Thank you." I smiled.

When we were driving on our way, to my place, I found myself getting more and more nervous. My hands were already kind of shaking. Something that happened when I was nervous. I let out a sigh, that was apparently louder that I anticipated.

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked.

"Nothing. I just can't wait to get him out and for it to be over with."

He nodded. "Do you want me to go in with you?" Did he have to be sweet all the time?

"That wouldn't be a good idea."

"Why not?" I paused. "I don't want you to get involved, that's not your job. I just need to do this all on my own."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I appreciate you wanting to help, but that would probably just make Jake even more mad."

"What? Why?" Damn, I had a big mouth.

I sighed. "He kind of thinks something happened or is going on between us."

"What?" He asked.

"He accused me a couple weeks ago of cheating on him...with you." I added, putting my head down.

"Really?" He didn't seem mad, just surprised.

"Yeah, he wouldn't believe me when I denied it, so you coming in there with me, isn't going to help with him believing that nothing did happen."

"Why would that be a bad thing? Didn't you break up?"

"Yes, but Jake isn't always so level headed and he might do something to just escalate this whole thing."

"So you think he would what? Hit me?" He asked, pulling into the spot in front of the apartment.

"Maybe. He can be aggressive. You don't need to intervene."

"See, when you say something like that, it makes me hesitant about letting you go in there." He sighed.

"It's okay. I have to go in there. I live there. All my things are there. Besides all that, you don't need to worry, he won't hurt me."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "I promise." He stared into my eyes for a few moments.

"Okay, just do me a favor."

"What?"

"Call me when he leaves, so I know everything is okay. Can you do that?"

I nodded. "Of course."

"Thank you."

I undid my seatbelt leaned over and gave him a hug. "Thanks for the ride and for last night."

"Anytime." He whispered, hugging me back. I smiled. "You are a life saver." I pulled back. "I will call you later."

"You better."

"Scout's honor." I smiled, getting out of the car. I waved before I headed up the stairs. When I got to the door, I looked down to see Kevin still parked. I internally smiled and opened the door. I took a deep breath and stepped in.

"Jake?" I called out. "You're here!" I heard him yell, running out of the bedroom. He was running to me like he was child, running to his daddy. "Where have you been? I was so worried. What the hell were you thinking?" He said, a little aggressive. I sighed. This wasn't going to be fun.

Javier's POV...

"Espo, what did you find out from the witness?" Beckett asked, with Castle in tow.

"Well, not much. She said, she couldn't see the guys face, because it was too dark. All she could tell me is that he might have been wearing a black suit and that he might have been 6 foot tall." I flipped my notepad closed.

"Great!" Beckett huffed, sarcastically. "Hey, where is Ryan?" She asked, getting ready to leave.

"I texted him, he should have been here by now. That guy is never late." I sent that text to him around an hour ago, he was usually here before me. He said he had something to do, before he showed up. I hoped that meant that he was up all night. That boy needed to get laid. He knew it. I knew it. Hell everyone knew it.

While walking to the car I looked up to see a smiling Ryan, walking towards me. It was written all over his face. He had a good time last night.

"Hey, bro." I said, casually.

"Hey, where'd everyone go?"

"They left. We did all we needed. Where were you?" I put on a smile.

"I had to run an errand." He ran his hand through his hair.

"I bet you did." I opened up the door.

"So what's her name?" I asked. He seemed to stumble a little.

"What?" He asked.

"The girl."

"What girl?"

"Really?" I gave him my look.

"Come on, bro. You can tell me. What's her name?"

"There's no girl."

I wasn't buying that. I had to mess with him though. "A guy?" I asked. His eyes dropped.

"What the hell?" He asked.

"It's okay. No judging over here." I teased.

"I'll tell you her name, when you talk to me about Lanie." He smiled and walked away. Damn, he knew. I knew he saw us last night. I told Lanie. Thankfully, she wasn't working on this case.

Few hours later... I was getting a cup of coffee, when I heard my desk phone ring. I quickly ran to answer it. I was hoping it was forensics with the results.

"Esposito." I answered.

"Javier." Someone said. It sounded like munchkin.

"Cheyenne?" I asked, feeling stupid.

"Yes."

"What's going on?"

"I need your help." She took a deep breath. "I broke up with Jake yesterday and now he won't leave my apartment and he won't let me in. Do you think you could maybe come here and help me out?"

"Sure." I said. "He didn't hurt you in anyway, did he?" I would kick that guys ass.

"No. I'm fine, he just locked me out."

"I'll be there soon." I said, with a sigh. I was already worked up.

"Thank you so much. Don't let Kevin know, okay?"

"Uh, sure." That was an odd request. "Hold tight. I'll be there." I said, before hanging up.

Since day one, I hated that guy and this was just the motivation I needed. I was on my way to the elevators when Ryan cut me off.

"Where you off to?"

"Personal business." I said, knowing that would only bring forth more questions.

"Everything okay?" He asked. I was kind of in a rush and needed to end this conversation quickly.

"Listen, munchkin called and she needs my help with something." I went to walk past him, but I saw an odd reaction out of the corner of my eye.

"She needs your help?"

"It's not serious, don't worry. I got this." I patted him on the shoulder.

"Either way, I am coming with you." He said, following me. What the hell? Why did I have to tell him?

"Dude, I got it. Stay here."

"Not a chance." We both got on the elevator.

"Why do you even care, bro? She's fine. Just having troubles with.."

"Jake. I knew I shouldn't have left her there."

"What?"

"He didn't hurt her did he?"

I shook my head. "No, but he locked her out of the apartment." I saw anger in his eyes. "Bro, what did you mean? You were there?"

"I dropped her off this morning."

"This morning? Where was she?" I asked, more confused than ever.

"She stayed the night at my place last night." He said, it casually.

"What?" I didn't know if I wanted to punch or hug him.

"Nothing happened." He said, sounding a little too upset about that.

"Why was she at your place?"

"She couldn't go back the apartment, because Jake was there and she didn't want to see him. I dropped her off there this morning. I should have stayed." He put his face in his hands.

The ride was quiet there. Ryan looked more and more pissed by the minute. If nothing happened between them, fine, but I knew him well enough to know he had a thing for her.

We pulled up to see her sitting on the curb in pajamas and sunglasses. She wasn't wearing shoes or a jacket. It was like 40 degrees. This guy was getting his ass kicked for sure. Ryan was the first out of the car. This wasn't going to end well.

Cheyenne's POV...

I didn't know what to do, but I knew I could call Javier. He would be able to help me. I mean, I didn't want to call the cops. I didn't want a lot of people knowing, what was going on. I didn't want Kevin to find out what happened, so I was left with Javier. I felt bad calling him to help me, but I didn't feel like I had any other choice. I had told Jake to leave while I took a shower. After the shower I came out to find him sitting at the dining room table. I sighed and kept telling Jake that it was over and that I just didn't feel the same way about him anymore. He couldn't accept it and when I told him that I wanted him out he flipped out and hit me. I didn't know if he meant to do it, or if he was just trying to make me face him. What I do know is that it hurt like hell. I asked him what the hell his problem was. He didn't say anything, all he did was pick me up and throw me out of the apartment, of course, I didn't have my keys on me. I begged for him to let me in, but he wouldn't. I would have beaten on the door, but I didn't want my neighbors to hear. That's when I decided to call Javier.

One of my neighbors, Tom was outside, he didn't say anything. I knew Javier would see my face and know what happened, but I didn't want him to know. I walked over to Tom's car.

"Hey Tom, do you think it would be possible for me to borrow your sunglasses, I will give them back to you later?" He gave me a look.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Nothing. I am just waiting on someone and my eyes are little sensitive to the sun today." I knew he wasn't buying this for a second.

"Sure, sweetie." He handed them over.

"Thank you." I smiled and put them on. Tom gave me a sad smile and pulled out of his spot. I went and sat down, trying not to think about how cold it was.

Sitting on the curb, I had never felt so bad about myself. How could I have allowed this to happen? What was I thinking? Shane and Drake would be so ashamed of me. They raised me to be smart and tough, not to let jerks walk all over me. Shane knew from day one, that Jake wasn't the innocent guy, he seemed to be. I should've listened to him. After my parents died when I was 6, my brothers Shane and Drake, raised me. We lived with my aunt and uncle, but they felt the need to take care of me the most. They raised me to respect myself. How could I have let them down like this?

I saw Javier's car pull in. I instantly felt better, until I saw his passenger. What was Kevin doing here? I told Javier, not to tell him about this. I sighed. Things were going to take a awful turn. I stood as up as Kevin got out of the car.

"Are you okay?" He rushed over to me.

"I'm fine, he just got angry and pushed me out of the apartment and my keys are in there." I sighed.

He went to head for the apartment, but I pulled him back by the arm.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going in there."

"Oh no you aren't." I wouldn't let go of his arm. No way, I was going to let things get even more out of control. Javier got out of the car.

"She's right, Ryan, go take her for a walk, I will take care of this, in a more calm way." He looked over at me and smiled. "Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded. "Ryan, go take her for a walk." It sounded like an order.

Kevin sighed and turned around. He started walking, dragging me with him. I mouthed a thank you to Javier as we left. He nodded and smiled.

We walked to the park and I sat down on the bench. I was still a little cold, so I folded my arms around myself. Kevin must have seen, because he took off his jacket and put it around me. It was so warm.

"Thank you." I said, slipping it on. He didn't say anything, he just sat next to me. I didn't know what he was thinking, but he didn't look happy. We sat there for what seemed like an eternity until he said, something.

"I have a question." He said, not looking at me.

"What?"

"Well you got kicked out, right?"

"Yes." I said, confused.

"You didn't have time to grab your keys, but you had time to grab sunglasses."

"I got them from a neighbor." I replied, looking down.

"Why?" He asked. "Why did you need sunglasses? The sun isn't out." I froze up. What could I say? I sighed. I saw Kevin's body tense up.

"Kevin, I'm fine. The only thing I am concerned about is getting my apartment back."

"You lied."

"What?" I asked, sitting up and leaning closer to him.

"You lied. You said, he wouldn't hurt you."

"It's nothing I can't handle." I sighed. "I just need him out of my apartment."

He turned and looked at me. He looked mad for a second, but that faded away. He reached up and grabbed my cheek, with his hand. I closed my eyes. His touch was so warm. A warmth, I never wanted to leave. I felt him take the sunglasses off. I tensed up, not knowing what he would do. His thumb traced my cheekbone a couple times. It was so gentle. I leaned into his touch. A shiver went through me. It wasn't a shiver of being cold, it was all him. He moved closer to me and put his arm around my waist. The hand that was on my cheek moved to the back of my neck. I felt his breath on me. I was afraid to move and ruin what was happening. He stroked the back of my neck. Soon, his lips were on mine. I wanted to kiss him back, but I was afraid to do anything. When the kiss ended, I opened my eyes to find him staring into my eyes. Suddenly, all the fear I had felt, left. I closed my eyes and pressed my lips against his. Ever since that dream, I had been thinking about what it would be like to kiss him. This was sort of surreal, but great nonetheless. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he wrapped his around my waist. All thoughts of Jake, were gone. All anger was gone. My fear vanished.

We were interrupted by a cough. We both turned and looked to see Javier standing there, with a smile on his face.

"What happened?" I asked, half curious, half wanting to change the subject before he made this more awkward.

"He is leaving, but he wants to get his stuff, but to make sure he doesn't take what isn't his, you'll have to be there." I moved my hands which were still around Kevin's neck.

"Um.." I wasn't sure about that.

"I'll be in there too."

"And me." Kevin said.

"No." Javier and I said, at the same time.

"Just wait here, until were done, okay?" Javier asked. Kevin looked at me and then sighed. He nodded and broke his hold on me. I got up and followed Javier. Walking away I could feel Kevin's eyes on me.

"So, are you we going to talk about that red mark on your face?" Javier asked.

"There's nothing to say."

"What about you and Ry?" He asked. I knew he would.

"What about you and Lanie?" I asked.

"Fine. I get it. I get it." He held up his hands in surrender.

Things went smoothly. Jake didn't talk to me at all. He grabbed all his things and only looked at me once, to give me back the key, I gave him. I knew he was scared. I stayed close to Javier at all times. Jake's brother came and picked him up, once he was finally gone, I let out a huge sigh.

"Thank you so much." I said, hugging, Javier.

"Anytime." He hugged me back.

"Will you give the jacket back to Kevin for me?" I asked.

"No need. I will send him up to get it." He gave me a little wink and left.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at my door. "Come in." I said, from the kitchen. I needed to get something cold on my face. I settled for a bag of peas. I looked over to see Kevin leaning in the doorway.

"How does it feel?" He asked, coming closer.

"Could be worse, I guess." He took the bag of peas off my face and touched my cheek. I couldn't believe the affect, he had on me. He bent down and kissed my cheek. I closed my eyes and tried to savor it. His lips hovered over mine.

"I should get back to work, but can I come over later? After work?" He whispered.

I nodded almost immediately. I handed him his jacket, after taking it off.

"Good." He slipped his jacket back on.

"Thanks." I said, kind of out of nowhere.

"For what?" His face twisted.

"Everything." I smiled.

He smiled back and leaned in his lips captured mine. Was this really happening? Could this be real? He wrapped his arms around me. This felt so good. I felt strangely safe with him. Like I never had to worry about anything ever again. He bit my bottom lip, which caused me to let out a groan. He cupped my face and pulled away. I frowned.

"I should go while I still have the strength to." He whispered. I wanted him to stay, I wanted to keep my lips on his, but I knew he had to go back to work. I nodded. "I'll be back tonight, okay?" He asked.

"Of course." I said, in a soft voice. "See you then." I smiled. He smiled back, his eyes were sparkling.

After he left, I whimpered. What was happening? Two days ago, I was hanging out with Kevin. We were laughing at embarrassing stories about each other and now we were...well I wasn't sure what we were. Today had changed things, that's all I knew. I just didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry it isn't that long.

I spent most of the day cleaning up the apartment. It was a complete mess. With Jake's things gone, it seemed a lot more empty. Not that I was missing him, it was just going to take time to adjust to living alone. I knew I could do it. Jake had only been gone for like 5 hours and I was already feeling better. I didn't want to jump the gun, but I was very happy I didn't have to deal with him anymore. A huge weight was lifted off my chest and I couldn't have been more happy about it. I was actually able to be alone and not have to deal with nagging. I was able to feel comfortable in my own apartment again. I owed Javier, big time. He didn't know how much he helped me today. If he didn't come today, who knows what I would be doing right now. Who knows where I would be right now.

While cleaning the refrigerator, I saw a picture of Jake and I at a birthday party for our friend, Mason. We looked happy then. That was back before everything changed. It hurt looking at it, so I tossed it to the side and kept cleaning. I was almost done with cleaning the whole apartment. When I was done, I was surprised how different everything looked. No clothes on the floor, clean dishes, clean counters, cleaning bathroom and it smelled substantially better. I decided to take another shower and change out of pajamas. I wanted to look somewhat presentable when Kevin showed up.

Despite Jake being gone and having the strain of that relationship gone, another kind of pressure had been put on me and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. Should I really be jumping into to something with Kevin? I just went through the worst time with Jake. Maybe I should take time to think things through. I shouldn't be rushing into something with someone else. I needed to stay single for awhile. No matter how much I was starting to like Kevin. I knew I wasn't ready for a new relationship. I knew time was something I needed, before I could be with someone. Kevin wasn't just anyone either. He was special and I was definitely sure that I didn't deserve him. When Kevin came over later, I would have to explain this to him. He was a smart guy and I am sure he would understand. I really hoped he would understand. I didn't want to lose him completely. He was very important to me.

I was reading a book when I heard someone knock at the door. I didn't know if it was stupid or not, but I was sort of afraid it was Jake. I looked through the peephole before opening the door. It wasn't Jake, it was Kevin. I took a moment to ready myself for what was ahead. When I opened the door, I saw Kevin, standing there and for the first time since I met him, he was wearing regular clothes. He wasn't in a suit. He was in black jeans and an orange shirt and a jacket.. It took me by surprise. He smiled at me.

"Hey." I finally spat out.

"Hey." He echoed.

"Uh, come on in." I laughed, realizing how weird I was acting. He came in and I closed the door behind him.

"Wow. Looks like I am not the only one who knows how to keep a clean place." He was looking around.

"Well, things were messy this morning, so I took advantage of the situation and cleaned. It was killing me."

He laughed and looked back at me. "You're cheek is looking better." He observed.

"Yeah. Thanks to the magic of frozen peas." I smiled. "So are you thirsty? Can I get you anything?"

"Sure. What do you have?"

"I don't know." I laughed. "Let me go check." I opened the refrigerator and only saw beer and an old carton of OJ. I opted for the beer. I grabbed two and walked back. "Here, its all I got." I handed the beer over. I was feeling nervous. I wanted to tell him what I was thinking, but I wasn't sure how to bring it up. I couldn't just bring it up out of nowhere. "Here, we can come in here and sit down." I chewed my lip, trying to think of anything to say. I sighed. "So I hope I didn't get you guys in trouble for leaving work earlier."

He put down the bottle. "No. We just told the captain, we were running down some leads."

"Good." I sighed. I was a little worried, Gates would go crazy.

"You haven't seen or heard from Jake, right?" He asked.

"Nope. I think today he finally got it through his thick head."

"I hope so."

"Yeah, it weird not seeing him here, but it feels amazing."

He smiled. "Yeah, today has been a weird day."

"You can say that again." I figured now was the window of opportunity. I might not get another chance to bring it up. I tried to steady myself. I knew this was going to be difficult for me. I turned to him, feeling my stomach turn. Here it goes. **Don't back out.** I told myself repeatedly. I licked my lips and was just about to speak, when he leaned forward and kissed me. His lips were so soft. How was it possible? I wanted to do a lot of things at that moment. I wanted to pull away. I wanted to tell him what I thought. Another part of me wanted me to stop thinking and keep going with it. Unfortunately, I couldn't do all of those things. When his tongue entered my mouth, all thoughts of ending this kiss were gone. Kissing wasn't so bad. I could kiss him. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all. I felt his hand start rubbing my leg. His lips trailed down to my neck. I sighed. This felt really good. He grabbed my shirt and pulled me closer to him. I wasn't sure I could do this. I couldn't just keep my mouth shut to get sex. I needed to talk to him.

"Kevin." I breathed out."Can we uh, talk for a sec?"

He kissed me again, this time with a sense of urgency. His hands cupped my face. When the kiss broke he stared down. "You don't want this, do you?" He asked pointing back and forth at the two of us.

"I do." I nodded. "I just think we shouldn't do it now, is all." I made him look at me. "I think its too soon to jump into something, you know?" I was hoping he wouldn't react badly to this. He sighed and then smiled.

"Don't worry. I understand it."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I mean, you have been through a lot, you need time, right?"

I nodded. "Unfortunately." I said, looking at him.

"Yeah, can't say I'm not a little disappointed."

"Neither can I."

"Probably for the best though, right?"

I nodded. "I guess so."

"So what do we do now?" He asked.

I sat down the beer, I still had in my hand. "Not sure." I laughed. "Movie?" I asked.

"Sure." He smiled and sat back on the couch.

I randomly picked a movie from the few I had left. When I got back to the couch I grabbed my beer and sat down. I felt a little stupid. Right now, I could be doing something, I couldn't stop thinking about. I knew it wouldn't have been the right time though. I just needed to keep my head on straight and I needed to stop thinking about him. Stop thinking about the way I felt when he wrapped his arms around me. The way his lips felt against mine. Ugh. I shook my head and took a another drink. This wasn't going to be easy. Sometime during the movie, I noticed our hands were close to each others. I slowly moved mine away. I didn't need any temptations.

I made myself focus on the movie. Unfortunately, the movie I put in, had a sex scene in it. This wasn't helping at all. I didn't dare look at Kevin. I just kept my eyes forward and didn't move or say anything. The storyline of the characters in the movie, wasn't too different from my situation at the moment. Woman is in an a bad relationship, she ends it. Her friend is there to comfort her. They sleep together. The male character asks her if they should do this, given everything she had been through. She nodded and told him she wanted to do it, because she was tired of doing everything she should be doing. I always thought she was being selfish. Why would she do that? Wasn't it wrong? Shouldn't she had just told him no? Of course, if she said, no, they wouldn't have slept together and ultimately, probably wouldn't have ended up with each other. I sighed. I knew what I should be doing. I also knew what I wanted to do. The problem was, that both of those things were polar opposite. I looked out of the corner of my eyes to Kevin. I wondered if he was thinking the same as me. The thing was, that I didn't know if what I thought was the right thing to do was actually the right thing. True, I did just end a relationship. I was happy I ended it. I felt better and stronger with Jake gone. I was single. Kevin was single. As far as I could tell, he didn't have any problems doing what he wanted. Maybe I shouldn't have been so closed minded. I was single. Sleeping with Kevin, didn't mean I had to settle down and get married. Maybe doing what I wanted, wasn't such a bad thing. I was able to do what I wanted. I shook my head. Leave it to me, to get inspiration from a dumb movie. I was a scared. What if now that I rejected him, he wouldn't want me?

All I had to do was try. I took a drink and put the beer back down. I sat back and leaned my head back. This was going to be a difficult. I didn't want to face rejection. I looked over to see Kevin looking back at me. He had a look as if he were lost in a thought. I didn't look away, like I always felt compelled to do before. I just kept eye contact with him. I had always loved his bright blue eyes, but right now I was convinced I would love his eyes no matter what color they were. They were like a window to how he was feeling. I could tell every emotion he was feeling from those eyes. Okay. I'm a grown women and I am allowed to do whatever I want. I needed to stop thinking and just do.

"Kevin?" I asked, my voice a little shaky.

"Yes." He replied in a similar voice.

"I changed my mind." His eyes brightened.

"About what?" He asked, doubt in his voice. We sat there just looking at each other. I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. His lips were like a drug. I couldn't get over how kissing him made me feel. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. I felt safe and secure. This is what I wanted and I didn't care if I was moving too fast. I was allowed to move however fast I wanted.

I felt Kevin's arms slip around my waist. Hands rubbed against my back. They were soft, yet strong. He pulled my on top of him. He pulled away and looked at me.

"Do you want to stop?" He asked.

I shook my head and kissed him. I wasn't backing out this time. I wrapped my arms around him and he did the same to me.

"Bedroom?" I asked, between kisses.

"Where?" I pointed in the right direction. "There."

"Okay." He stood up and I wrapped my legs around him and started kissing his neck. He made a moan that made me go crazy. I closed the door, once we were in my room. Right now, in this moment, everything was perfect and I was going to try and savor every moment of it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry about the wait. Wanted to get this just right. As always, please leave reviews!**

I was tapping my hands on the steering wheel. If I was going to bail, now was the time. All I had to do is slowly back out of the driveway. Nobody would know I even showed up. I hated these events. They were so predictable. Shane would be overly nice to everyone and Drake would get drunk and say something inappropriate and then I would make a dumb excuse, so I could leave. Why did we have to keep doing these special sibling dinners? The only one who really liked them were Tessa and well, she was no longer here. I looked at the clock. I was 5 minutes early. I sighed and decided to go in, before someone saw me out here.

I walked up the driveway trying to prepare myself, not that it would do me any good. I rang the doorbell and took a deep breathe. **Help me out here, Tess.** I thought.

"Hey, baby sis." Shane said, greeting me. He reached out and hugged me. I returned his hug and relaxed into it. Shane's hug were the best way to relieve stress. I didn't know how, but it worked.

"What's wrong?"

"Guess." I said, pulling back.

"Work?" I shook my head. "School?" I shook my head again. "Is it a guy?"

"Bingo."

"Jake?"

"Yes." His face dropped into a frown. He hugged me again.

"What did he do now? I thought you got rid of him?"

"Me too." I said, as we walked into the house. "He keeps texting me."

"Why?"

"He says he misses me, I know its bullshit, I just hate hearing from him." I shrugged out of my jacket.

"I bet." He said. "So why don't you have that detective talk to him again?"

"Not unless he shows up at my apartment unwelcomed." We heard shuffling from the other room. I sighed.

"Drake drinking again?"

"Always." We walked into the kitchen to find Drake picking up a glass he obviously dropped. Shane rushed over to help, while I stayed back and glanced at Drake. "Sorry, bro." He said, bending over to help. "Don't worry about it. Just go sit down." Shane finished cleaning up. I was checking my phone, when I heard a gasp. I looked up to see Drake looking at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothin, you just look like her, so much."

"I know, I know." I sighed. "Don't start in with that tonight." Shane, said sitting at the table with Drake.

"Why?"

"Because she doesn't like it."

"Sorry, baby." He said, looking at me.

"Whatever." I joined them at the table.

"What?" Drake asked. "Are you mad at me?"

"I just like sober Drake more."

"I like drunk Drake, he is funny." I shook my head.

"Is anyone laughing?"

"You guys, just don't have a sense of humor."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it." I replied, dryly.

"Cut it out, guys." Shane begged. "Let's just have fun. No arguing."

We ate almost the meal Shane made. Well actually, Kelly made it. She was married to him, she knew his cooking wasn't impressive. She always made us dinner and left before we got here, to give us our privacy. We were all so different. Shane loved talking about "The Good Old Times." Drunk Drake loved talk about bizarre shit he did when he would get drunk with his buddies, while sober Drake, only talked about how much he wanted to leave the city and get away from all of his temptations, which included, liquor, drugs, and gambling. He sure knew how to make money and blow it in no time at all. Even though, Drake, was the one who had all the problems, I still felt like the odd one out. I didn't enjoying talking about our childhood, cause it was too painful. I mean, our childhood, was great, but it made me miss it. We couldn't get those days back and sometimes, talking about them, made it all that much worse.

"I fell off the bar and landed face first on floor." Drake, laughed, telling another one of his tales. "And that ladies and gentleman, is how I broke my nose." I rolled my eyes. Why did he have to do these things? I wanted to help him. Shane and I both did, but trying to get Drake help, was a loss cause. After several failed attempts, we realized we couldn't help him until, he wanted help.

I got a text from Jake again. I sighed and rubbed my hands through my hair. "What's the problem?" Shane asked.

"Jake."

"Jake?" Drake asked. "That asshole still bothering you?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

"What? Come on! Baby, if he is bothering you, just tell me where he lives. I can fix it."

"Stop it." I sighed.

"You sounded just like her there."

Okay that was enough. "Shut the fuck up, already!" I screamed.

"Why? Its true. Sometimes its like she's back."

"Well she isn't and you know how I hate hearing that shit!" I stood up. I think it was time for me to bow out. "Thanks for dinner Shane." I kissed him on the cheek. Drake stood up. "I don't want see or hear from you until you are sober." I grabbed my phone and left.

I should have known better. What made me think things could stay good? Nothing stays good. Nothing. Drake had to bring up painful things. Especially, when he was drunk. Jake didn't stay gone. No matter how much I wished upon a star and prayed. Kevin and I were not talking to each other. After our one night together, we kind of didn't talk afterwards. I didn't really know why. When I would see him, I would run into a room he wasn't authorized to go in. I just couldn't face him. I liked him and being with him, even for that one night, was the most amazing and intense experience of my life. The morning after, we said goodbye, before he passionately kissed me. That was the last time we spoke and that was weeks ago. I sighed. Maybe I did this. Made my life turn this way. Maybe I was doomed to lead a life, full of mistakes.

A Few Weeks Later...

Javier's POV...

"Bro, come on! It's been weeks! You gotta get back out there! I'll be there helping you every step of the way." I stopped. "Well not every step, but just until the fun starts." I smacked Ry on the arm.

"Javi, I don't want to go out. I just want to get this paperwork down and go home." He never looked up from his desk. This was pathetic.

"Don't act that way. I know better."

"Just let me do my job. Don't you have something more important to be doing?"

"Nope, just bugging you."

"Go bug, Lanie." He said, tossing a paper to the side.

"Lanie and I done." I said, flicking a paperclip at him. "So we need to go out tonight."

"I'm not going." I sighed. This is guy was wasting a great opportunity.

"Why not?"

"I told you why not." He stood up and went into the break room. Who was this guy kidding, like I wouldn't follow him.

"You are still into munchkin, aren't you?" I asked, not believing it.

"Javi, just let it go."

"Bro, you slept with her. That's what you wanted. You did it and now it is out of your system, you should be happy with that and move on." I looked at him, he just shook his head. "Unless, there is more to it than that." I said, while he poured coffee. "You don't have feelings for her, do you?"

"Javi, I'm not talking about it." He shot me a warning look and left the room.

"You don't have to talk, I will do it for you. You really like her and now what, you aren't going to see her again? That makes perfect sense. Perfect. You know, you sure are a genius. When I like a girl, I don't go for it either."

"Javi!" He screamed. Getting the attention of everyone around us. "Just drop it."

"No, I want to know. What did munchkin do to make you, stay away from her?" I wasn't dropping this. I needed answers. He didn't say anything. He just sat there and typed on the computer. I couldn't believe it. This guy spent numerous hours telling me everything about Jenny. I felt like a third person in that relationship. Then he tells me about the amazing time he had with Cheyenne and now he just wasn't into her anymore. If I had a chance with her. I would take it. Ry still wouldn't say anything. I was going to find out, if not from him, I would get answer from someone else. I knew exactly who to go to.

Cheyenne's POV...

"I'm leaving, I will see you Thursday, okay?" I said, to Lanie, as I was slipping on my coat.

"See you later sweetie." She gave me a smile. I turned off the light at my desk, before turning and walking out.

I saw Javi, walking down the hallway. Undoubtedly, on his way to see Lanie.

"Hey, Munchkin." He smiled.

"Hey, Javi."

"Just the girl, I was looking for."

"What? Why?"

"I want to ask you something."

"Okay." This was a little weird.

"It's about Ry." I flinched and he saw it. "What's going on between you two?"

"Uh, nothing." I was a terrible liar.

"Did he say or do anything to upset you?" He asked, making me squirm.

"No."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nope."

He nodded. "So there is nothing going on between you guys?"

"No. There really isn't."

"He seems to be going through something and I am pretty sure it has to do with you."

"Look, Javi, I am sorry, but I can't help." I walked past him. I got a few steps before he grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Come on, its me. Please, don't lie."

"It's personal." I said.

"Look, I can't make you talk to me, but I can ask you to talk to Ry. I think it could help him." I felt bad. I didn't want to cause Kevin any problems.

"Javi." I started.

"I know there is something going on, please fix it." He let go of my arm and walked away. I stood there for awhile. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't do anything. I couldn't fix anything. If Kevin was upset, that I was ignoring him, I could understand that. I could even apologize, but If he was upset, because he wanted to be with me, I couldn't fix that. I wasn't good for him. I just wasn't, no matter how much I wanted to be. I gave in and realized Javi was right, the least I could do is apologize to him. He deserved it.

I went to find him, but he had already went home.

I figured I would give him a call. "Hello?" He answered.

"Kevin, its me, Cheyenne."

There was a pause. "Hey." He said, I couldn't sense any emotion.

"I really need to talk to you. Can you come over to my place or meet me somewhere?" I hoped he would.

"Right now?"

"Yes, unless you are busy."

"Uh, no. I can come over."

"Great."

"Be there in like 15, okay?"

"Okay. I'll see you then." I smiled. Okay, the good thing was that I was going to be able to apologize, the bad thing was that I was going to be alone with him in my apartment. I sighed. This was strictly one friend talking/apologizing to another. I could control myself. I wasn't an animal.

Kevin showed up on time and I invited him in. He seemed a little uneasy. I offered him something to drink, but he declined. He looked like a wreck. I hadn't seen him in days. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping. I decided to jump right into it. I wasn't sure if I was the reason for him looking this way, but if I was, I was going to fix it, just like Javi said I should. I sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to mine, so he would stop standing like a statue. He sat down and I relaxed a little.

"Thank you for coming over."

"No problem. So, what did you want to talk about?" He still seemed nervous.

"I wanted to apologize. I have been really rude and distant towards you." He nodded. "I'm really sorry, I just thought it would be easier."

"Easier? What are you talking about?"

"I thought it would be easier to just avoid you then to just tell you the truth."

"Which is?" I took a deep breathe.

"We should have never slept together." It sounded rude, but it was the truth.

"Why not?"

"Well I was sending you the wrong message."

He squinted and looked away. "You don't like me?"

"I do. I just can't be with you."

"Why not?"

"We are too different. You're 34 years old. I'm 23 years old. You're a cop. I'm just a student/waitress. In short, I'm just not good enough for you. I don't deserve you. It would be wrong for me to just overlook it, so I could be with you. You have to know that I'm right." I was trying to explain it the best way I could. "You deserve better than me. I still want to be friends if that's okay. I just can't be more than that. You deserve someone better than me. Someone like you." I took another deep breathe.

He wasn't say anything and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing a bad thing. I sat there quietly and waited for him. Waited for to say or do something. Anything.

He ran his hands through his hair and stood up. I still sat there motionless. "You mean everything you just said?" He asked, looking at me, for the first time in awhile.

"Yes." I nodded.

He gave me a look of disbelief. "Are you still in love with him?"

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Jake." I shook my head.

"This has nothing to do with Jake."

"Okay, well I didn't ask that."

"No. I'm not in love with him." I couldn't believe he would ask that.

"Well I can't say you were lying when you said, we were different. I am older and have a lot of baggage." He said, as if he was just realizing it. "You are just starting your life and I am already living mine."

I nodded. "So we can be friends, right?" I asked. He looked at me with an amused look on his face.

"Cheyenne, we are different, but that doesn't mean anything. I don't want to be with someone just like me. I want someone different. Something new. I like that we are different. If I was with someone who was a cop, I wouldn't be able to deal with it. You are different from me, but in the best possible ways. Being a cop can be.." He stopped. "Difficult. It can turn, a good day, into a bad one, in an instant. Its stressful, but since I have met you, I have never been so eager to go to work, because I know that no matter how stressful it gets, I can see you and talk to you and it makes my day a thousand times better."

I didn't know what to say. I wasn't expecting him to say any of that. I actually thought for a brief second that he agreed with me.

"Cheyenne, there is no criteria for dating me. You don't have to have a glamorous job. I knew who you were long before now, and that only made me like you. I slept with you, not just because you were a young girl and I just went though a divorce. I slept with you ,because I am attracted to you and I wanted you see just how much I cared about you." His hand grazed my cheek. "Don't you see just how amazing you are? I like you, just the way you are. I would never want you to change."

Before, I knew it my eyes were getting misty. Nobody had ever said anything like that to me. I took a deep breathe. What was I supposed to say to that?


	9. Chapter 9

**Next chapter will be longer! I promise! Please leave reviews!**

Waking up with arms wrapped around me, was a little hard to get used to. I loved it though. I felt warm, safe and most importantly happy. I could never get tired of the feel of his soft hands. His sweet and unique scent, was the most intoxicating. I snuggled closer to him and he tightened his grip on me. Moments like these were rare, because of his job. He would always get called in early and I would still be asleep when he left. I closed my eyes and tried to enjoy this for as long as I could. I was about to drift off, when I felt his lips hovering over my back. Soon his lips were on my back, covering it with kisses. He stopped briefly, before moving his hand which was on my waist down my leg. I knew what was coming next and I wanted it more than anything, but every time we started something, his phone would ring and he would have to leave. It didn't matter the time of day. It's like they knew the worst time to call him. I stretched my body out and he kissed my neck.

"Morning, beautiful." He whispered in my ear. I smiled and rolled over to face him. "I was just about to wake you up in a very creative way." He smiled.

"I know, but that wouldn't be smart."

"Why not?" He asked, rubbing my cheek.

"Because you might not be able to finish what you started." I said, moving my hand, so I could touch his chest.

"I could just turn off my phone."

"Yeah right. How else would Javi be able to call you?"

"When I am with you, I never want him to call me." He grabbed my hand and kissed it. I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 8. I groaned.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"I have to get ready to go. I have to be to work in like an hour and a half."

"Or.." He said kind of loud. "We could call in sick and stay here in bed." He pulled me to him and proceeded to give me a passion-filled kiss. I moaned into the kiss. He was dangerous for me. It was hard to resist him. I knew I should go take a shower and get ready, but I couldn't seem to accept it. I climbed on top of him, still kissing him. His hand ran up and down my back, giving me shivers. I pulled back and sat up.

"I can't afford to miss a day of work, even though being here with you, is all I want, but someone has to pay the bills." I bent down and kissed him again.

"I will cover your rent for a year, if you stay here." He pulled my face back to his. I laughed and kissed him back.

"I have to go shower." He pouted. I was a sucker for that face and he knew it. " That's not fair. Don't make that face."

"I can't help it, it just appears when I feel hurt."

"I hate you." I joked. I was going to get up, when he said something that through me for a loop. "What?" I asked, thinking that I may have heard him wrong. "What did you say?"

He looked up at me and smiled. "I said, you can hate me, but I love you." I felt my eyes tearing up.

"You love me?" I asked, in a low voice.

"Of course, I do." He said it as if, it was common knowledge. I couldn't believe it. "Are you okay?" He asked, grabbing my hand.

I nodded, not trusting my voice. As soon as I felt, I could trust my voice, I looked at him to see him staring at me. I don't know how I didn't see it before. All I could see in those eyes were love. I leaned in and kissed him. I didn't think I could feel this way for anyone, let alone, Kevin, who I had only be secretly seeing for 3 months. "I love you, too." I said, when the kiss ended. I looked at him and saw his eyes light up. "You do?"

"I do." And I did. Before I knew what was happening, he was on his phone. "What are you doing?"

"Calling in sick." I smiled. I didn't like the thought of him missing a day of work, but it was his decision. I decided to follow suit and made my own call.

After we were both off our phones, he grabbed me by the waist and made me face him. He pressed his lips to mine. For the first time, in awhile, I didn't feel the need to over analyze felt good. It felt right. I loved him. I was as certain as I could be. I never felt this way before and I was just going to go with it, no matter what happened, I was in this and I didn't want to be anywhere else or with anyone else.

A few days later, I was in the middle of helping Lanie, with an autopsy. Fortunately, I didn't have to touch anything. I was just observing. I was in the middle of filling out the chart as Lanie instructed, when the doors opened. "Hello, ladies." We both turned to see Kevin and Javi.

"What are you doing here?" Lanie, snapped at Javi. I kept my head down and tried not to make any noise. I didn't want to face her wrath. Something happened between Javi and her and she wasn't being subtle about it.

"Just came to get the results on our vic."

Lanie gave me a look of pure annoyance. "I'll be right back." I nodded and continued to fill out the chart. Kevin followed her, he was asking her questions, as they left. His eyes briefly made contact with mine. I looked down immediately.

"Man, she is really uptight today. What's that all about?"

"Don't know." I said, keeping my eyes down. Kevin and I decided when we first got together that we should keep things just between us. We wanted to keep this just to ourselves. I knew if I looked at him, I would get that stupid smile on my face and Javi would know something was up.

"How've you been Munchkin?" Javi asked, coming over closer to me.

"Good. How about yourself?" I asked.

"I've been really good." He smiled. "Not as good as some people though." He kept his eyes locked on me.

"What?" I asked.

"Ry seems to be doing really good, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Shit. He knew.

"No, I wouldn't."

"Really?"

"Javi, cut to the chase."

"Are you guys, ya know?"

"Sleeping together?"

"Yes. Are you sleeping with Ryan?" Before I could answer I heard Kevin. "Javi!"

"What?" Javi shot back.

"Javi, I'm not sleeping with Kevin. I'm sorry to disappoint."

"How would it be your business, if they were?" Lanie chimed in. Before he could answer, I decided to end the conversation.

"I actually have a date tonight, Javi." He turned his gaze from Lanie to me.

"Really? Anyone I know?"

"Hansen from narcotics." Kevin said. I looked at him and he winked at me. "He asked about her, so I kind of set them up." I gave him a surprised look. He was always there when I needed him.

"You hooked her up with someone else?" Javi asked.

"Yes. Like I told you repeated times, we aren't together." He said, then gave me a small smile.

"Oh, well, I guess I was wrong. I was picking up signals, that I guess weren't there." I gave him a smile.

"Sorry, Munchkin." Kevin coughed and moved closer. I laughed. "Sorry bro." He said, but didn't look at him.

Lanie walked over and handed Javi a folder. "Here you go." She shook her head at him and walked away.

Javi, gave me look then turned to Kevin. "Come on, bro lets go." He said, walking out of the room, clearly embarrassed. Lanie, walked out of them room to grab a pair of goggles for me.

Kevin quickly ran over and gave me a kiss. "I'll text you later." He whispered. I smiled and nodded. He was so cute, sometimes.

I stood there patiently by the body, waiting for Lanie to return. When she did, she had a smile on her face. I tried to ignore it. She handed me the goggles and I slipped them on. After a few minutes of silence, Lanie finally spoke.

"How long?"

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"How long have you guys been together?"

"Who?" "Girl, I am not stupid. Javi, yes. Me, no." She laughed. "So how long?"

"Lanie, I don't know what you are talking about?" Why did I continue to lie, when I knew I wasn't any good at it?

"So I didn't just see Ryan and you kiss?" She asked, looking up at me. I froze up and looked back to the body.

"Lanie, please don't tell anyone. Not Beckett or Castle or anyone else, please." I spoke in a low voice.

"You got it girl. I knew there was something going between you guys." She smiled.

"How?"

"I have spent a lot of time around dead people, so when I am around the live ones I pay attention. The way you guys sneak looks at each other. The way you smile at each other. Its pretty obvious." She laughed. "You guys are just lucky that Javi is so oblivious." She put her hand on my arm. "I'm happy for you both. Could tell from day one that he had a thing for you and after awhile, I saw that you felt the same way." She was like a psychic. I sighed.

"I thought we were doing a good job at hiding it." I said, out loud, which wasn't my intention.

"Apparently, you are. Nobody else knows, right?"

"Right." I nodded. "Thanks for keeping our secret."

She smiled. "Don't mention it."

After I left the morgue, I was on my way to my car. I grabbed my keys out of my pocket, then I felt two arms wrap around my waist and stop me. I jumped a little, even though I knew who it was. I turned around and before I could say anything, his lips were on mine. I laughed and kissed him back, when suddenly, it hit me where we were. I pulled back.

"Kev, anyone could come out here and see us."

"Nobody is here. Just us." He pulled me to him again. "So can I see you tonight?" He asked, before kissing my neck. I closed my eyes.

"I wish." I sighed. "I have plans though."

"You have a guy on the side, I should know about?" He asked, still kissing my neck.

"No. Not a guy. Two guys." I smiled.

"Really?" He kissed my lips.

I nodded. "They're my brothers, Shane and Drake."

"Wow. That's very kinky." I laughed and smacked him on his arm. He kissed me again.

"So when do I get to meet them?"

"Uh, I don't know. Do you really need to?" I asked.

He laughed. "I'd like to, you know, someday."

"Then you will. Someday."

"Do you not want me to meet them?" He asked, pulling away.

"I don't know. Not right now, maybe we can just wait for that." He nodded slowly.

"Good. Cause I want to meet them and your sister." I jumped.

"My sister?"

"Yeah, you told me you had a sister."

"Yeah, um.." I didn't know what to say. "I should uh get going they are probably waiting."

"Call me later okay?" He asked, wrapping his arms around me.

"I will." He leaned in and kissed me. "See you later." I smiled. He turned and left, leaving me feeling confused. I took deep breath, when I got into the car. I couldn't help, but to feel nauseated. I couldn't believe this was happening. How was I going to explain things to him. I knew why he wanted to meet my family, but I still wasn't sure if he should or not. We weren't exactly a whole family. How would I explain Tess? I took a deep breath and started up the car. I had to remind myself to take it one day at a time.


	10. Chapter 10

**This chapter will be a little more centered around Cheyenne. I hope you enjoy it! And as always please leave reviews! I love getting feedback! I owe a very special thank you to, wayouttamyleague! Without the help, this chapter would be filled with mistakes!**

I arrived at Shane's to find that Drake wasn't going to show up. I was very thankful. I didn't know if I could deal with another one of his drunken states. Plus, it would great just to spend time alone with Shane. He was the only person, I could talk to about anything. He understood how I felt about certain things, because he went through what I did, so did Drake, but he didn't know how to just keep calm.

"Why didn't Kelly stay?" I asked, taking a drink of water.

"She's doesn't like to intervene on these nights. She knows they are just for us."

"I get that, but she knows that she is welcome to stay, right? I don't want her to think, that I don't like her." I always felt bad that she had to leave her own house, because of me.

"She knows that you like her."

"I hope so." I sat down at the kitchen table and got a text from Kev. I smiled. Shane sat down, next to me. "So why are you smiling so much?"

"Uh, I've kind of been seeing someone."

"Really?" His eyes lit up, which took me by surprise.

"What's with that reaction?" I asked.

"Just happy for you is all." He laughed, before taking a drink of beer. "So is it anyone I know?"

"Nope. His name is Kevin." He looked at me. "So?" He pressed.

"What?"

"Tell me about him."

"Okay. He's smart and funny." I smiled. "He's very funny. He is probably one of the sweetest people I have ever met."

"Wow. What's he do?"

"He's a cop."

"A cop?" He asked, before his jaw fell. I nodded. "Wow! You never cease to surprise me." He said, before getting up. I smiled. "So, wait, I thought you hated cops."

"Not all cops. Just the ones who are incompetent." I corrected him. He noticed my tone and dropped it.

"He wants to meet you, you know?" I changed the subject in hopes of shifting the mood.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you and Drake."

"You think he's ready for that?"

"Drake, no." I laughed. "I do believe he is ready to meet you."

"So.." He brought me over a plate of food. "How serious are things with you two?"

I laughed. "Very serious. I love him." I took a bite.

"Love?" He gave an amused look. "How long have you been seeing him?"

"Three months." The look on his face indicated that he was stepping into his big brother role. A role I was all to familiar with.

"Sweetie.." He started.

"Shane. I have known him for awhile and I know you may think it's too fast, but I love him and he loves me."

"I'm sure you care for him a lot, it's just that I don't want this to end like it did with Jake." He placed his hand on mine.

"It won't. Kevin is so much better for me than Jake ever was." He didn't say anything, he just put his head down.

"Okay." He put his hands up in surrender. "When can I meet him?"

I sighed and took another bite. "I don't know yet, but I will let you know in advance."

I really wanted Shane and Drake to like him. I wanted them to love him. I just wasn't ready to bring Kevin into my whole world yet. I definitely didn't want to tell him about Tess. She was a topic that was off the table when talking to most people. I wanted to tell Kevin everything. I didn't want to keep secrets from him. Time was needed, though.

I needed to sort it out. How do you tell someone you are in a relationship with, that you love, that your parents died when you were young, and since then you were raised by your aunt and uncle, along with your brothers and sister? It wasn't a normal upbringing. How was I supposed to let him meet Drake? Drake was drunk almost every time I saw him. How was I supposed to tell him about Tess? I mean, it isn't everyday you find out that your girlfriend's sister was murdered. What would he think or do? Would he look at me differently? I knew he wouldn't leave me, he wasn't that type of guy, but maybe he would act differently around me, once he knew. Things were going to get intense, and I wasn't ready for that. He probably wasn't ready for it either. How could I tell him I got my last name changed, just to distance myself from a painful past?

"Earth to Cheyenne." I heard Shane.

I jumped a little. I needed to stop spacing out. He was going to think I was crazy or something. "What?" I asked, embarrassed.

"Been trying to get your attention, for the last minute." He put his hand on my arm. "Everything okay?" I smiled, the best one I could conjure up.

"I'm okay. Just thinking. That's all." The rest of the dinner went rather smoothly, until Shane asked, something that I really wished he would have never asked.

"Have you ever talked about Tessa, to Kevin? Maybe he could help, where the other detectives couldn't." He helped me put my coat on.

"I can't do that." I sighed.

"Why not?"

"He doesn't know about her." I kind of snapped, but took a deep breath. I didn't need to take my problems out on him.

"What?"

"I couldn't tell him."

He nodded. "Then say it was a friend, that way, he won't know."

"Shane, he will know when he pulls up a picture and my face is staring back at him." He hesitated.

"You're different now." He gestured towards me. "You have dark hair. You lost a lot of weight. You even wear contacts to change the color of your eyes." After hearing him name off everything I did to change my appearance, so I didn't look like my twin, I didn't know if I made the right decision. I changed everything. Was it the right thing to do? "Hell, you even changed your last name, so really, you wouldn't even have to worry about it."

"No. I'm not going to do that."

"You don't want to know what happened?" I took a deep breath. I was getting mad. He knew I cared. He knew I wanted answers.

"I'm going to go. Tell Kelly, I said, hi." I left, before he could say anything else. When I got home, I texted Kevin, to let him know I was home. I decided to call it a night. If I didn't go to sleep, I would just be thinking about things that I didn't want to think about. All I wanted was to spend the next 8 hours in a peaceful sleep state.

A Month Later...

"So, you finished all the software updates, to the computers?" Lanie asked, not believing I actually did it.

I nodded, feeling quite pleased with myself. I wasn't tech savvy, so it was a huge accomplishment, to me. "I did it a little too late. I should have done it when I first started here. Now I won't get the chance to appreciate my hard work." I let out a sigh.

"I'm going to miss you. You have been extremely helpful." She slid over some papers on her next and sat on the edge. "You gonna come visit?"

"Probably so much, you will have to kick me out." I smiled. She came over and gave me a hug.

"You better come back." She whispered. I stepped back and noticed there were tears forming in both of our eyes.

I let out a groan. "Let's not cry or say goodbye." I grabbed my jacket and walked over to the door. I turned around. "I'll see you soon." I smiled.

"See you later, sweetie." She said, smiling back. I took a quick look around and walked out. I found it oddly funny, that I was going to miss assisting with boring paperwork and observing Lanie while she did an autopsy. I shook my head. Was there something wrong with me?


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm sorry for the delay. It took awhile to finish this, but it is my longest chapter thus far. Hope you enjoy! I'm hoping this chapter will bring some drama. As always, please leave reviews, whether they be good or bad. I love all types of feedback. Thanks!**

Kevin's POV...

"Anything on Travis Welker's alibi?" Beckett asked. Castle was right behind her, as always. He looked desperate for good news. At this point, we were all desperate for good news.

Javi stood up. "He was at his cousin Bobby's wedding, from 6 until 11. I confirmed it with Bobby and his new bride, Allison." Javi, sat down in his chair and rubbed his temples. We were exhausted.

"Well that's it." Beckett, sighed. "We hit our last dead end." She stood there for awhile. We didn't say anything, just racked our brains. We chased down every lead. Went over his financials. There was nothing. We were empty handed and Jacob Wilson's murderer was free to do whatever he wanted. He was able to kill whoever, whenever, and wherever he chose.

I stood up and walked over to wipe the murder board clean. "I should go inform Gates." Beckett said, finally moving from the place she had been standing for the past several minutes. "Good effort, guys." She said, before walking over to Gates' door.

"A lot of good that effort got us." I muttered, to myself. This whole case had been a cat and mouse game.

"Want to come over and chill tonight, bro?" Javi, walked over and patted my back.

"Thanks, but I actually have some plans."

"Plans? What kind of plans?" He asked, perking his head up. I should have known he would. I think he sensed what my plans were. He was very interested in my life. Specifically, my love life. I think it was because he was worried about me after the divorce.

"Just plans, Javi. Don't need to worry about it." I turned around and walked over to my desk.

"A date?"

I sighed. This could go on for awhile. I gave in "Yeah. You happy?" I asked, with sarcasm. He came over.

"Who with?"

I grabbed my keys and jacket and smiled. "Someone very special. I'd love to stay and talk about this and give you all the details, but I need to go." I added, sarcastically. I walked past him and headed towards the elevator. I heard him mumble something, but I decided to ignore it and keep walking.

After having a case end this way, I knew the only thing that would make it better would be to see her face. I always felt like I had a force field around me, when I looked into her beautiful brown eyes. Nothing could hurt me, when I was with her. Nothing, but her.

Cheyenne's POV...

When I got home, exhaustion had set in. Not that work was strenuous. It actually went by pretty quickly and smoothly. The only bad part was that, Brandon, my clumsy coworker, elbowed me in the eye. I was having a hard time seeing, so he had to drive me home. It looked more and more like, by the end of the night, I would officially have a black eye.

Brandon apologized repeatedly. At first, I did blame him, but if I were to be honest, it was my fault. I was the one who wasn't paying attention. Something that was causing me problems here lately. I was finding it hard to concentrate at the bar and with school. I was even blanking out when I was around Kevin. I would either space out around him or fall asleep. He never once complained about it though. I was having difficultly being around him, ever since Shane brought up Tess.

I would be lying if I said, I hadn't thought about it. It seemed to be all I could think about. If Kevin, Espo, Beckett, and Castle could help, wouldn't it be worth it to tell him? I mean, after years of knowing nothing, I could have all the answers I had dreamed of finding out.

Someone knocked on the door, when I was in the middle of changing. I knew Kevin was coming over since he texted me when he was leaving the precinct, I didn't want him to have to wait on me. "Come in!" I shouted from the bedroom. I heard the door open and close, but nothing else. I finished getting dressed and walked out of the bedroom to find nobody.

I stood there for a moment. I knew I heard the door open. I knew it. I tried to find any traces of someone in the apartment, but didn't see anything. Just when I thought I may have imagined the whole thing, I heard someone moving around in the bathroom. I would have tried to call out, but I was a little unsure if it was Kevin. I walked towards the door, slowly. Right about now I was regretting I didn't have anything to protect myself with. Just as I got to the door it popped open. I nearly screamed, until I noticed it was Kevin. I jumped back.

"Sorry." He said, but his voice didn't sound the same. He sounded, stressed. I turned around.

"What's wrong?"

He wouldn't even look up at first. "Nothing, just a hard day at..." He stopped when he looked at me. "What the hell happened?" He asked, rushing over to me. It took me a moment to realize what he was referring to.

"Uh, nothing. Just me being clumsy." I laughed, to cover my embarrassment.

"You were so clumsy, you punched yourself in the eye?" He asked. Okay, he had a good point.

"Well, no, but I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking, and a friend from work ended up elbowing me in the eye." I noticed that his body grew tense. I placed my hand on his cheek. "Don't worry, it was an honest mistake. He apologized like 15 times."

He moved closer. "You should put some ice on that." He said, shaking his head in what resembled, disbelief.

I nodded. "Yeah, I know." He got me some ice to put on my eye. I could tell he was upset. Either it was because of my eye, he didn't need to be though. It wasn't like it was intentional. Accidents happen all the time, he should know that. Or he was upset over his day at work. "So?" I asked, waiting for an explanation.

"So what?" He asked, putting his arm around me, while watching TV.

"You said, you had a hard day." I reminded him. "What happened?" He kept his eyes on the television. I knew being a homicide detective, couldn't be easy.

He had to see terrible things, and go out and find the people who did those terrible things. I knew he had to be going through something, if he wouldn't even look at me. I grabbed the remote and switched off the TV. He was going to talk to me about it. I wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. His eyes didn't leave the screen. I looked over and noticed his eyes weren't bright blue, like they normally were, they weren't like looking into a bright sky. They were darker now, like a storm was coming. I grabbed his hand with mine and kissed it. I heard him take a deep breath. I wasn't going to let him shut me out. I moved closer to him and faced him. He closed his eyes.

"Talk to me." I whispered. I didn't get a response. "I could really use a distraction, my eye is really hurting." He finally opened his eyes. He put his arms around me tighter, and I leaned into him.

"Can you do me a favor?" He asked, in a serious tone.

"Of course."

"I need you to sit here next to me and not talk. Just listen. Can you do that?" I nodded and interlocked our fingers. He rubbed my hand with his thumb. I didn't want to pressure him, but he wasn't talking.

He cleared his throat. "Today was one of those days cops dread." I moved my head, so I could face him. "We dread it, because it makes us feel hopeless and like failures." He stopped and took a breath. I wanted to tell him that he wasn't a failure, but I knew he just needed me to listen. "About a week ago, a man named Jacob Wilson was murdered. He was 36 years old. He was married and had 6 year old daughter and 4 month old son. He was found in an alley, shot several times and robbed. He didn't live or work on that side of the city, so we didn't know how he ended up that far from home. After a week of chasing down every lead we could and interrogating many suspects, we came up empty handed. Today, we had to dismiss the case." He rubbed my arm with his hand.

What was he saying? They gave up? I squinted my eyes, questioningly, at him.

"We hit a dead end." He said. I looked away and put my head against his chest. He felt so warm. So that was it? This guy, Jacob Wilson's murderer walked free? He or she wouldn't be brought to justice? What about his wife and kids? It didn't make sense. How could they just give up? I felt his chest rise. He must have known that I had a million questions going through my mind, because he kissed the top of my head. "It's the absolute worst part of the job, but we only can do so much. We can only go so far into the investigation. Sometimes, the only thing we have left, is just wishing for a miracle that the person will just come forward and confess." I could tell he was bothered by what he just said. It made sense. Sometimes life sucked. I knew it all too much.

"Some days, I just feel like quitting." I jumped a little. Quit his job? Why would he do that? "Sometimes, no matter how much good we do and how good we feel about doing it, it still hurts like hell, when we fail." He took a ragged breath. "Okay. I'm done. I don't want to bore you anymore with my incessant ranting. You can talk now." I had so many questions, but the only problem was that I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

"Cheyenne, are you still awake?" He asked, rubbing my back.

"Yeah, I'm still awake."

"You were really quiet."

"Just thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing."

"I know better than that." He let out a small laugh. I sat up and took the bag of ice off my eye.

"How often does that happen?"

"Does what happen?"

"You know, when you can't solve a case?"

"More than we would like. I mean if you were to map it out, we solve a lot of cases, but sometimes you just can't solve them all, no matter how much you want to." I would ask him what was going to happen to Jacob Wilson's wife and kids, but I already knew. They would have to go on with their lives, not ever feeling whole or safe again. I shook my head. Images of Tess, kept filling my head. I remembered the day I found out that my sister's case got dropped. It felt like the world stopped and for a long time, I didn't want it to ever start moving again. I wanted to crawl in a hole and stay there for the rest of eternity. I didn't feel whole anymore, but I knew I wasn't alone. Shane and Drake were there and they helped show me that the world didn't end.

"You have to talk to me." He said, rubbing my cheek. I nodded and leaned into his touch.

"I'm tired and my eye hurts." I said, which was fairly honest. "Would you mind if we went to bed?" He looked at me and nodded. He looked disappointed. I knew, I just spent the night trying to get him to open up to me, and he did. It wasn't fair to him. "We'll talk tomorrow, okay?" I knew he wanted me to say what was really on my mind, but what was on my mind was Tess and she was off limits, for now.

He grabbed my hand as we headed into the bedroom. We went to bed and didn't say another word to each other. We just laid in silence. I knew both of our brains were running a thousand miles an hour, but we didn't let the other person know what about. We just laid there, entangled with one another until we drifted to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to find Kevin sitting up and staring at me. When I tried to open my eyes to get a better look, my eye felt like it was on fire. I whimpered.

"Do you need ice?" He asked.

"I'll go get it."

"No. I can get it. Just stay here." He hopped up and kissed my forehead, before leaving. I sat up and stretched. He came back with a bag of ice that he placed on my eye.

"Thank you." I said, trying to get used to the coldness of the ice.

"Anytime." He smiled a smile that gave me butterflies.

"So, are you feeling any better today?" I asked, leaning against him.

"Of course. Being with you always makes me feel better." He kissed my head. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"It will just take awhile to heal, but I think the ice is helping." He wrapped his arms around me and I relaxed.

"I'm glad it is helping, but I wasn't talking about your eye. I was talking about last night."

"What about last night?" I asked.

"I noticed how you looked. You were all for talking and then once I told you about my day yesterday, you got very quiet. You weren't exactly subtle about it." I sighed. If I wanted answers, or to at least try and get answers, I needed to speak up.

I took a deep breath. "I know and I am very sorry, but there is a reason why my mood changed."

"What is it?"

"Well after hearing you talk about that case, it made me think about someone very close to me." I was feeling very unsure about this until I looked at him. I sure hoped he wouldn't be upset after I told him. This was the first relationship I was in, where the other person actually showed concern for me and who genuinely cared about what I had to say. "You see, about 5 years ago, someone close to me was murdered and, well the detectives working the case couldn't find her killer." I sighed. It felt good to finally tell him. It felt strange and good all at the same time. "So when you were talking last night, it just brought back some memories."

"I'm sorry." He started, but I couldn't hear him apologize.

"Kevin, you don't need to apologize. You didn't know." He nodded.

"Can I know who that person was?" He asked, pulling me back against him. I felt my heart begin to race. I didn't know if I could do this. All I knew is I couldn't back out now.

"Tessa."

"How did you know her?" I knew he would ask that question. I just wasn't ready to answer it. At least not honestly.

"She was...a friend of mine." I spit out and instantly felt bad. I just lied to him. What was I doing? "My best friend. I met her in school." I couldn't stop it.

"What happened to her?" He asked, kissing my head.

I didn't have to lie this time. "She was supposed to be out on a date, but never showed up to where she was supposed to meet her boyfriend. He waited for over an hour before, leaving. He decided to start calling people to see where she was. She was missing for two days, before her body was found in a lake. She had apparently been stabbed a few times and then whoever killed her, decided to tie a tarp around her body." It was hard to talk about and I was starting to get a lump in my throat. I took a deep breath. Kevin must have sensed how it was affecting me, because he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my head. He didn't ask anything else. I wasn't sure what to say to him, now. I wiped away a tear from my eye.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. Before the topic got pushed to the side, I needed to ask him.

"Do you ever.." I stopped, losing my nerve.

"What?"

"Do you ever take on cases that other detective didn't solve?" My voice was shaky.

"We have, but it doesn't happen to often." I was starting to feel stupid and was going to change the subject, by the time I tried to say something to lighten the mood, he cleared his throat.

"I don't want to make any guarantees or promises, but I might be able to look into the case. But that doesn't mean anything. If the case turned cold, it might be impossible to find anything now." I didn't say anything. I couldn't ask him to do to anything for me. He had just went through a case that he couldn't solve. I didn't want it to seem like I was using him. "What do you think? Would you want me to look and see?" He asked. "I mean, it would be just me. Espo, Beckett, and Castle would be helping as well."

I sat up. "I can't ask that of you."

"What if I offered to do it?"

"Why would you do that?" I asked.

"I love you. You mean more to me than you will ever know. You were there for me last night. You got open up and say how I was feeling. That wasn't easy for me, but you made me feel comfortable about it. You were respectful and kind. I opened up to you because I trust you. I want to help you. Obviously, she meant a lot to you, so if I can do anything to help, I want to do it." He rubbed my hand. I couldn't believe he was actually volunteering to do this. I thought I would have to go through a lot of convincing, to get him to even consider it. I looked at him and couldn't believe how lucky I was to have him. He was so sweet and generous. He seemed to know exactly what I needed without me having to say it. I would definitely have to try harder to make him see how much he meant to me.

I leaned forward and gave him a kiss, to show him my appreciation. "Thank you." I whispered. "Don't thank me yet." He said.

"I love you." I smiled. "I'm so lucky that you are with me, out of all the other females out there." He leaned forward and cupped my face, carefully.

"I'm the lucky one in this relationship." He whispered, before kissing me again. I didn't care what he said. I felt like the luckiest person in the world.

He rolled over on top of me and looked at me. His bright eyes were back and I never wanted to see them any other shade of blue again.

"Thank you."

"For what?" I asked.

"Opening up to me." He smiled, before his lips met mine. If only I were completely honest with him, then maybe I wouldn't feel so guilty.

Later that day, I was cleaning the apartment. Kevin left after getting a call from Beckett. He asked for Tessa's whole name. I gave him all the information he needed, before he left. I was feeling anxious when he left, so I called the only person I could.

"Cheyenne?" Shane answered, obviously, surprised. I never called him.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked, trying to remain calm. Cleaning dishes wasn't exactly easy with hands, that were shaking with anticipation. I ended up dropping a couple of plates once or twice in the sink, which caused water to slash on me and get my shirt completely wet.

"I'm okay. How are you? Is everything okay?" He asked.

"I did it."

"Did what?"

"Told Kevin."

"Sis, I'm going to need more to go on."

"I told him about Tessa." I said, a little to impatiently. There was a long pause, before he said anything. "He is going to help?"

"He is going to try. He said he couldn't guarantee anything."

"Right, well that's great, sis!" He laughed. I knew he was feeling relieved.

"I know. He said, with him and his partners, Esposito and Beckett, they will have a better chance of finding something."

"Beckett?" He asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing. Name just sounded familiar."

"Oh, she's the detective that Richard Castle shadows." I reminded him.

"They are all over magazines."

"Yeah. That's probably where I remember the name."

"Yeah, so I mean, there are no guarantees, but maybe this will lead to something."

"I hope so. Thanks for bringing it up to him, I know it couldn't have been easy." He could read me like a book.

"I told him that she was a friend. I couldn't work up enough nerve to tell him the truth."

"Well if he can actually get us some answers, maybe you could tell him the truth then."

"Yeah, we'll see." I was just glad that I would be able to tell him on my own terms. Five years ago, I was a curly headed blonde, with a weight problem. Now, I looked the complete opposite. Plus, I knew it wouldn't draw any red flags, when he read her file. My last name was no longer Harper.

After hanging up with Shane, I wondered how long I would have to wait, to get answers. I also wondered if there were any answers out there. If there were, I knew Kevin, Espo, Beckett and Castle would be able to find them.

Kevin's POV...

"Tessa Harper?" Beckett asked, grabbing the file, I handed her.

"Yeah, why?" I asked. She flipped open the folder. She looked at me and sighed.

"Now I know why the name resonated with me."

"Are you saying, what I think you're saying?" I hoped I was wrong. Please, for the love of God, let me be wrong.

"We worked this case." She said, still looking over the file.

"Are you sure?" I asked, with little hope.

"I'm afraid so." She closed the folder and handed it back to me. "Sorry, Ryan." She started to walk away, like it meant nothing to her.

"Wait, maybe we missed something."

"What?"

"Well it was 5 years ago, maybe now, with fresh eyes, we could open the case again."

"Ryan, I get that you want to help Cheyenne. I do too." She assured me. "You know we can't open a case, without new evidence." I looked down and sighed. "If I go in there and tell Gates, she will just turn me down, you know that." I knew she was right.

The case went cold, and there wasn't anything we could do now. I felt bad, because I really wanted to help Cheyenne. I opened up the folder and glanced it over again. I knew when a case went cold that we, as cops, were supposed to put feelings aside and move to the next case.

In a perfect world, I wouldn't even have this job, because there wouldn't be any crime committed. We didn't live in perfect world though. We lived in a world, where horrible things happened. Being a detective, I loved being able to get criminals off the street, but sometimes, more than I would like, we didn't always have success.

If I handed the picture of Tessa to anyone in this room, they would say, some thing like, "That's too bad." then they would go back to their job. Tessa Harper would just be another girl, who was killed. It was scary to think that I had filed away, people, like Tessa, and just put them out of my mind. She was someone's daughter, sister, niece, and now she was gone and her killer roamed free to get away with murder again.

If it weren't for Cheyenne, I would have never remembered her. I worked this case, and failed at solving it. The worst part about it, was that, I didn't remember this case. I could use the excuse that, I had worked a lot of cases, but that was just an excuse. I never really thought about it this way before. I always felt bad, when we couldn't get justice for a victim and their families, but right now, looking at Tessa's face and thinking about Cheyenne, I felt like a heartless monster. How could I go to Cheyenne and tell her that her friends murderer was still out there, because I didn't do my job? What would she think of me? Could she still love me? I threw the folder down and went to the break room. I needed to figure out how I could ever face Cheyenne again?

Cheyenne's POV...

I knew I would need my car back, so I could go into work tomorrow. I called Brandon to see if he could pick me up to go get it. He came over and spent nearly the whole ride there telling me how much he hated the new shift manager, which made me feel uneasy as well. I already had problems with the former shift manager. She was a bitch. I guess the new manager wouldn't be any better. I was kind of glad that he was ranting. It was a nice distraction.

All I had been doing all day was cleaning and impatiently waiting to hear from Kevin. I was sure he could do something for me. He was a great detective. I had complete trust in him. He wouldn't let me down, like those other detectives did. They obviously, were just there to get a paycheck. Not Kevin. He cared about people. It mattered to him whether, the criminals were brought to justice or not. If anyone could find out what happened to my sister, it would be him.

Driving was easier than I anticipated. I guess it wasn't as bad as I originally thought. I made a mental note to apologize to Brandon for yelling at him. I was going to today, but my mind was on other things. When I pulled into the parking space in front of my apartment, I noticed Kevin was sitting on the bench. I noted that he looked confused, almost like he was a little boy who was lost. That wasn't a good sign. I sighed before I got out of the car. I had a feeling I was in for some bad news.

"Hey." I said, walking up the pathway.

"Hey." He echoed, then swallowed, thickly. I wasn't ready to start talking about Tess, so I kept it casual, knowing he wasn't ready either.

"I can drive now." I said, with a nervous laugh.

"Good. That's great." He said, rubbing his palms on his pants. Okay, this definitely wasn't good.

"Do you want to come in?"

"Yeah." His voice was squeaky. I opened the door and walked in.

"You don't lock your door?" He asked, following me in.

"I was only gone for like 20 minutes."

"Anything can happen in 20 minutes." I rolled my eyes.

"You really are a cop." I laughed. He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck.

I walked into the kitchen and sat on the counter. "So, what are you doing here in the middle of the day?" I knew the answer. I just wanted to get it out of the way.

"Listen, the thing is..." He stopped and looked like he might get sick.

"You can't do anything with Tess's case." I said, a little too blunt. He nearly choked when he breathed in. I didn't want him to suffer anymore than he needed to. It was a long shot anyway. I couldn't be mad at Kevin. At least he made an effort to help, unlike the other detectives. "Don't worry about it, Kevin. You don't need to be nervous. I'm disappointed, but that's not your fault." He looked at me and shook his head.

"Listen, about that..."

"Kevin, I will be fine. Those detectives who worked her case in the first, are the screw ups, not you. They didn't do their job and let her case slip away. They're the reason her killer is still out there. I can't blame you for them being incompetent." He looked like a child. I jumped off the counter and hugged him, sensing, he needed my reassurance. His body was so tense.

"Babe, it's okay. You tried to help and I can't ask for more than that." I let out a small laugh, in hopes of trying to lighten the mood.

"Cheyenne..." He started, loosening his grip. "We need to talk." His voice changed. A lot of emotion came out in those four words.

"What?"

"It's about her case." I was going to cut him off, but he would let me. "Just listen, please." I sighed and nodded. "I showed her case file to Beckett and well..." He let out a sigh. "This is going to be hard to say."

"You can tell me anything." I held him closer.

"Cheyenne, I'm so sorry." He said, before pulling away from me.

"Sorry?" I asked, confused. "For what?"

"Beckett informed me today that..." He hesitated. "We were the ones who messed it up." I knew I heard him wrong.

"What? I don't think I heard you correctly."

"Beckett, Esposito, and I, worked Tessa's case. We were the ones who screwed it up."

He had to be lying. There's no way that was possible.

**Special thanks to, wayouttamyleague! Can't thank you enough :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Please leave reviews!**

"Is this just some weird joke I don't understand?" I asked. He couldn't be serious. It was just too absurd.

He paced around in front of me, not making eye contact. He looked too anxious. I was starting to think this wasn't a joke.

"Unfortunately, its the truth." He sighed.

"I don't know what to say." I shook my head, hoping that maybe something would click. And I would suddenly understand. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I'm so sorry."

"How?" I asked, not expecting an answer.

"We worked the case for two weeks, and we just kept going around in circles." He ran his hands through his hair. He was stressed. My natural reaction was to hug him, but right now, I just couldn't believe what he was saying. Kevin was a great detective, as were Javi and Beckett. It just seemed like too much to believe that out of all of the detectives in the city, he was the one who screwed it up.

"So you just gave up on her?" I felt tears coming.

"You don't understand." He took a deep breath. "We try so hard to get closure for the victims' family and friends. Sometimes the leads we get, just lead us back to where we started." He finally looked at me. His eyes had changed. They were so dark, like something had drained the life out of them. He looked like a wreck.

I couldn't stand to look at him, right now. I was just feeling too many emotions at the moment. I needed to think about things.

I walked away from him. I felt like I was going on circles. Maybe I was dreaming. I sat down on my couch, and desperately tried to force myself awake. I suddenly felt heat close to me. I knew it was him.

"I know it doesn't mean much to you, but I wish more than anything that I could go back in time and make everything right." He bent down next to me.

I crossed my arms at my chest. I was conflicted. I didn't know if I wanted to scream or cry.

"Why can't you?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why can't you reopen the case?" Maybe now, with fresh eyes they wouldn't have a better chance.

He looked down and sighed. "Sweetie, I wish I could, but its not that simple."

"Why not?" I was getting more and more agitated. I was so close to getting answers and I wasn't going to let it go so easily.

"That case went cold five years ago. The only way we could reopen it, is if we had new evidence and we don't have that."

I was hearing what he was saying, but it didn't matter to me right now. All that mattered was getting the answers I so desperately needed. I needed answers, not just for me, but for Shane and Drake as well. Most importantly, I needed answers for Tess. I knew it was crazy, but maybe if the person who killed her was caught, and I helped make that happen, then it would show her how much I loved and cared about her.

"So you are telling me that there is nothing you can do? Her killer just gets to roam free?" My hands were starting to shake. I was getting too worked up. It just made me so mad. What kind of world were we living in, when killers got to live their lives without consequences? How could he just accept this? Did he care?

"I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that! It's not a cure all! It doesn't just make everything better!" He jumped, when I raised my voice. That was the first time I ever raised my voice at him. It felt odd. I always saw him as a sweet and gentle person. Now, I saw him in a new light. I got up and started pacing.

"I don't know what I can do to make this better." He sounded like he had a lump in his throat. I couldn't see him cry. I just couldn't.

"I guess there's nothing you can say." What was I supposed to do with this? What were you supposed to do, when the person you trusted and loved, turned out to be the person who let you down the most?

"Cheyenne, I'm sorry." He came towards me. "I love you so much. You are so great and amazing to me. Last night when you listened to me talk about my day, you helped make it a thousand times better. I trust you and know you would do anything for me." I wiped away a tear from my eye. "I would do anything for you. It just kills me that I have let you down like this."

I couldn't think clearly. Too much was going on. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down. I took a deep breath. A method I had learned from Javi. When I was interning for Lanie, I would get stressed about paperwork and Javi would tell me to take a deep breath, and then I would feel better, but his method wasn't working right now.

I didn't matter what either one of us said, it wouldn't change the facts. Her killer would still be out there living their life, while my sister was in a hole.

It was time for the truth.

"Kevin," I turned to face him. "I have something really difficult to tell you, but you need to know why this means so much to me."

"I do know. She was your best friend." He got closer and I took a step back. That clearly hurt him. "I couldn't imagine how I would feel if something like that ever happened to Javi." Just the thought of that, made us shudder.

"You don't understand." I choked out. More tears were falling. "Tessa was my best friend." I took a breath. This was so hard. "She was my sister." I spat out. His eyes grew bigger. They were so dark and intense. I froze. What if he was pissed that I lied to him? I hadn't thought of that. I saw his jaw drop.

Suddenly the air got really think. I didn't know what would happen next, but it sure wasn't going to be anything good.

A couple of weeks later...

"Thanks for meeting up with me today." Javi said, once we were seated at a table. "We haven't had lunch for awhile."

"Thank you for inviting me. It's been too long." I wrapped my arms around myself, felling a little uneasy. I was a little apprehensive about coming today. I really missed Javi, and hadn't seen him in weeks, but he knew something personal about me, since he had found out from Kevin about how I really knew Tess. I knew Javi wouldn't bring it up, but having him know something that personal, made me feel exposed.

"I know. I've missed you, munchkin." He smiled. I smiled at the nickname. I hadn't heard it in awhile. Javi hardly ever called me Cheyenne. I guess he had an ex girlfriend in high school, who was named Cheyenne. He told me I was too sweet and innocent to share a name with, in his words, a she-devil.

"I've missed you too." I smiled back.

Javi had called me a couple weeks ago, after Kevin filled him in on Tess. He apologized and told me how terrible he felt. We ended up talking for a few hours that night. After that phone call, I felt a little better. Not as angry as I was. Javi helped me understand things from their perspective. He told me about the mental and emotional toll it took on them. He told me that sometimes he couldn't sleep. Sometimes, when he could sleep, he would have nightmares. They would last for weeks and sometimes months. He told me that often times, after a case that was either rough or left unsolved, he would have doubts about his abilities as a detective.

Javi helped me understand that I was taking my anger out on them, instead of realizing they weren't my enemies. My real anger was with Tess' killer. Now, I knew I could forgive Javi, Beckett, and Castle. They tried to help the best they could and that made me feel good. Javi was there to comfort me when nobody else was. He wasn't like Kevin. Kevin didn't lie to me, but he tried to protect me from certain things. Javi protected me too. He also told me the truth. Sometimes it was brutal, but that was his style. I knew he had a soft spot for certain people and I wasn't sure if I was now one of them.

Having Javi share something that personal with me, really made me feel special. It was like he let me see past his tough exterior, something I didn't expect, and under it all, he was tender. I never thought it would have happened. He must have been trying to comfort me, which was very sweet. I guess I shouldn't feel so weird about him having a deeper insight into my life. It was like now we were closer because we knew these things about each other.

It was good just hearing from him. Back when I was first interning for Lanie, I would only see him when they were working a case together. Then his visits became more frequent, possibly, because he and Lanie were hooking up behind everyone's back. Not that I blamed them. I had been hiding my relationship with Kevin. It made things easier, especially when it was a new relationship.

After awhile, though, every time he came down to the morgue, he would start up conversations with me. He would talk to me about anything and everything. He even made Lanie upset a few times, because of how much time he made me waste. After that, he would ask me to have lunch with him, so he wouldn't be interrupting my work. I liked hanging out with Javi. He was like another big brother.

So being able to hang out with him again, was a bit of a relief to me. I hadn't seen much of anyone from the precinct. Although, I would see Alexis every once in awhile, I always seemed to miss out on seeing Castle and Beckett. Truth to be told, it would be so easy to go see them. I missed all of them. I just couldn't. I knew Kevin was mad at me and having to face him and see _**that**_ look on his face, was something I never wanted to have to face again.

If leaving a case unsolved could affect Javi in such a way, I knew it had to be more tough for Kevin. Having me lie to him, probably just made things worse. Why did I let things get so out of control?

After hearing Javi talk about how hard things were for them and now understanding that they did care for the victim's, I felt like I could forgive Kevin.

That didn't matter though, because Kevin wasn't talking to me anymore. After that night, we hadn't seen or heard from each other.

Lunch with Javi was as fun as I was hoped it would be. There was no pressure. He never brought up Kevin. He didn't really need to, because he was still in the dark about our relationship. Well, I didn't know if it was still a relationship anymore.

This lunch reminded me of how much fun I would have hanging out with him when I interned for Lanie. He made me laugh and smile until, my face hurt. Good old Javi.

We covered a wide variety of topics. Everything from Movies to Music, and of course Sports. We even got into a conversation about Castle. Castle apparently had a great theory about the latest case they were working on. He thought the killer was Bigfoot. I had to laugh at that one. People could say a lot about Castle, but they could never say he wasn't entertaining or creative.

I tried to bring up Lanie and him, but he didn't have much to say. It was too bad. I thought they looked really cute together.

When we were leaving the restaurant and saying our goodbyes, he gave me a worried look.

"Let's not wait so long before we do this again, deal?" He asked.

"Agreed." I smiled. He came over and gave me a hug. He smelled really good. He always had. Just going from the hug to the scent of his cologne made me feel a little more relaxed. It felt good being around him. I really had missed him. He was always so much fun and very caring. I always felt safe around Javi.

"Promise me something." He said, backing away.

"What's that?"

"Start eating better and get some sleep. Please?"

I hesitated. That took me by surprise. "What are you talking about?" It was a lame attempt.

"Come on, don't play dumb with me." He grabbed my hand.

"You don't need to worry, Javi." I tried my best to make him feel more comfortable. I could tell he was still not buying it. I put my head down.

"You hardly touched your food in there." He pointed towards the restaurant.

"I wasn't all that hungry." That statement was both true and false.

"I'm not stupid or blind." He gestured towards me. "You've lost weight."

"Is that a crime?" I laughed.

"No. I just don't think you're doing it the healthy way."

"Javi, I'm fine." I said, rubbing his arm.

"You are?" He was giving the look I never wanted to see. It was like he was reading my mind or looking into my soul.

"Okay. I haven't been eating so much here lately. I'm sorry." I looked away. "I've just been going through some things, but I am seriously okay, I promise you."

"Are you going to start eating more?" He asked, moving closer to me.

I looked at him and nodded.

"Get some sleep as well."

"I will try." I nodded, again.

He shook his head. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I don't know." I hunched my shoulders.

"Between you and Ry, I am going to lose my mind." I flinched when I heard his name. "I should let you get going." He patted my arm. Before he could leave, I needed to ask him something.

"Javi?"

"What is it?"

"What were you talking about when you said, Kevin?"

"He's just been distant and moody lately."

"What do you mean?"

He gave me a weird look. "Well, like this case we are working on, he dives into it and only talks about the case. If I try to bring up something else, like him coming over to chill, he blows me off."

I put my head down. I couldn't help, but feel guilty as hell.

"He kind of looks like you."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"He looks like he hasn't eaten or slept in weeks."

"Wow." Was all I could say.

"Is there something I should know?"

"No." I shook my head. "I should get going. I have work in a little bit." I wished I could tell him, but I knew Javi would say something to Kevin and if I could stop things for being so hard on him, I would.

"Yeah, I should get back to work, too."

I nodded and was about to say bye, when he grabbed my left hand. "Call me, if you need anything, or just want someone to listen to you, okay? I'm here for you."

I couldn't help, but smile. "I know. I will let you know, if I need your help."

"You better." He winked, before taking off.

"Bye Javi." I called after him.

He turned around and smiled. "Bye, Munchkin." He called back.

I shook my head. That name. Drake used to call me that when I was 7. I was the shortest of all of my siblings. Even know I wasn't tall. 5'2, could hardly be considered an average height. Drake also called me by the nickname because growing up, I loved The Wizard of Oz. He used to relentlessly, make fun of me, telling me that I came from munchkin land. Soon, the name caught on and everyone started calling me by it. Nobody called me by that name anymore though, thankfully. Just Javi.

To be honest, it didn't bother me when Javi called me Munchkin. It wasn't so much an insult, as an term of endearment. I watched Javi walk away. It may have been because seeing him, automatically made me think of Kevin, but I really hated that he had to leave. I turned around and made my way to my car. I couldn't stop myself from looking back at him one more time, I didn't know why I felt the need to. I turned around to see him looking back at me. Was he flirting with me? I continued to my car. Why would he be flirting with me? He really needed to get back together with Lanie.


	13. Chapter 13

Javi's POV...

"What are we going to do guys? He's starting to really worry me." I looked out the window in the break room. Ryan was still hunched over his desk.

"I'm not sure there is much we can do, Espo." Beckett said, coming over to me. "He's not willing to talk about whatever is bothering him and we can't make him talk to us." She took a drink of her coffee.

"Yeah, Espo, we want to help Ryan, but if we push him, he will just push back." Castle said, coming stand on the other side of me.

Suddenly I got an idea. I smiled. Thank you, Castle. "You're right, Castle." I patted his shoulder. "If I push too hard, he'll let something slip." I laughed. Castle was very useful. "You're a brilliant man." I said, before turning to leave.

"Wait, I didn't mean to say that." I opened the door. "Espo, don't do it!" He called after me, but I kept moving. I was going to get Ryan to talk. I just needed to stop being so gentle about it. He was going to spill the truth, whether he liked it or not.

I walked over to his desk and leaned on the side of his desk and stared him down. I knew I had to be looking like a creeper, but right now I didn't care. After several seconds of my intense staring, I noticed Ryan starting to shift. He was going to crack. I knew all the right buttons to push. He couldn't hide anything from me. I knew him all too well.

He looked up at me, and quickly looked back down, and turning away from me. He should know better than that. Like I would really walk away that easy.

"So what do you have planned for tonight?" I asked, as casually as I could manage.

"Uh, I got plans." He said, digging his head further into his file.

"You seem to be busy most of time lately."

"Yeah." He said, getting up. "I need some coffee." He started walking away.

"Yeah, I'll come with you." I followed him into the break room. It was empty. "So you got a date or something?" I asked, trying to get something out of him.

"No. I just have some things to do."

"Anything I can help with?"

He stopped pouring coffee and looked at me. For a moment I thought he was going to tell me something. "No." He looked back down. "I don't need any help." He picked up and cup. "Thanks for the offer, man." He said, before walking back out.

Okay, being subtle wasn't helping. I needed to give up on it. It was time to take it up a notch.

I walked back to my desk. On the way, I saw a file on his desk. I looked closer to see that it was Tessa Harper. I looked at it kind of confused. What was he doing with her file? I looked over to see him back, so I walked to my desk and sat down. What was he up to? That case was closed. He knew that. Okay, I was going to get to the bottom of this.

"So" I got up and walked over to the side of the desk her file was on and sat on it. "Got any plans this weekend?" I asked.

"Uh, I don't know. I might." He kept looking at the spot I was sitting. So this is why he has been secretive.

"I was thinking we could chill, its been awhile." I said.

His eyes were getting bigger and bigger. This was too fun.

"Yeah, maybe. I will let you know." He squeaked. "I have to get back to this paperwork." He said, not taking his eyes off the file. I nodded.

"Alright, bro." I scooted off the desk, making sure I would knock the file to the floor.

As soon as it dropped, I saw his eyes widened and he nearly jumped out of his seat and tackled me.

"Whoa, bro. Don't worry, I got it." I grabbed it before he could and placed it on his desk. "No worries." I tapped him on the shoulder and went back to my desk. This was going to be great.

I heard him sigh a breath of relief.

I faced my chair towards him. This was going to be great. "So Ry, why do you have Tessa Harper's file on your desk?" I asked, with a smile.

That made his head pop up. "What?" He squealed.

"Tessa Harper. Her file, fell on the floor. Why do you have it?" I leaned back in my chair. I had him right where I wanted him.

"I, uh, was...just.." He stammered. This was awesome. I tapped his shoulder, which caused him to jumped like a little kid watching a scary movie. He turned around and faced me. I made sure to have a blank expression. He looked like he may be sick.

"Has that case been opened again?" I asked with mock curiosity.

"No." He looked away from me.

"Why do you have it then?"

He sighed and then looked at me.

"Can we just keep this between us?"

I leaned forward. "That depends, what is _**this**_?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Bro, don't be stupid. I can keep a secret better than anyone."

He looked around before leaning in. "I'm working on the case."

Did he really just say that? "Why?" I asked.

He sighed. "Cheyenne." He said, as if that cleared everything up.

"What?" I asked. What the hell was this?

"I'm doing this for Cheyenne."

"She asked you to?"

He shook his head. "No, we aren't really talking anymore."

"Why?"

"Javi, its complicated."

"Complicated? Well try me, I love a challenge." I wasn't letting him off the hook.

"I can't tell you."

"What? Why not? I'm your partner. You can tell me anything."

"I know, but this is just something, I need to do on my own."

"Why, bro? We could do this together." I slapped him on the arm. "You know we are unstoppable."

"Then why didn't we solve it the first time around?" Okay, that was a fair point.

"Alright, but you can't do this alone. I know we can solve this together. We know a lot more now than we did back then." I knew he knew I was right.

"Javi," He started to protest, but I shut that down.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I told you."

"Yeah, but why?"

"She needs closure."

I sat back. I couldn't argue with that.

"Listen Javi, I need to do this for her. I ruined it once before and I need to fix it now."

"Is this why you guys are not talking? Cause she's talking to me and technically, I ruined it just as much as you did."

"No, she isn't to blame. That was all me. I pushed her away." He said, sitting back in his chair. That was an odd choice of words.

"Pushed her away? You made it seem like were in a couples fight." I laughed.

His face turned blank and red. His jaw was clenched. "Wow." It finally clicked.

"Javi," He started to beg.

"You've got to be kidding me?" I jumped forward. "You and munchkin are together?" I couldn't believe it. They couldn't be dating. Ry would have told me.

He shushed me. "Javi, keep it down." I looked around to see a few people looking towards us. I shot them a look and then they turned away.

"Tell me. Are you and munchkin dating each other?"

"I don't know." He said, turning around in his chair. I grabbed pulled his chair towards me.

"What do you mean you don't know?" I wasn't an idiot. Although, I should have figured this out.

"I got mad at her and stormed off. We haven't talked in awhile."

"You got mad at her? What did she do?"

"She lied to me. I didn't know Tessa was her sister. I mean she lied about it."

"So?"

"So I was mad she lied to me."

"Was?" I repeated. "You aren't mad anymore?"

"No. I said, some things to her that I shouldn't have and it seems like the only way I can get her to forgive me, is to fix this." He put his head down. Wow. He was really hurting. I sat up in my chair.

"Well, this isn't going to be easy. I mean, do you have anything to go on?"

"I don't know. I might." I shook my head.

"You haven't told her about this?"

"No." I shook his head. "And neither can you." He demanded.

"I can't lie to her." I said, picking up Tessa's file. I looked at her, trying to find pieces of munchkin, but there was nothing. "How are they twins?" I asked, confused.

"Cheyenne used to look like that, but I guess, not too long after Tessa was killed, she changed her appearance."

"Why?" It didn't make sense.

"She said, she couldn't stand looking in the mirror and seeing Tessa. She said, it was too painful, when people would tell her how much she looked like her." He ran his hands through his hair.

"I guess that makes sense." I shook my head. "Damn, she even changed her last name."

"Yeah."

"We are going to solve this case." I said, putting the file down.

"We?" He asked, with an amused look.

"Yes, we. We're going to get closure for Tessa and Munchkin. You got it?" I pointed at him.

"Thanks, man." He laughed. I knew he needed help. Thankfully, I was more stubborn than him.

"Let's get started." I tapped him on the shoulder.

Munchkin had to be in some serious pain to go to the lengths she did. I couldn't imagine the pain she had to still have. She was good at hiding it. She was stronger than I gave her credit for. In a weird way, I had a newfound respect for her.

We were going to solve this case. We couldn't let it fall out of our hands again. She deserved answers. She would help, if the tables were turned. She was like family, and you never let your family down.

"So?" I asked, moving over to his desk.

"So, what?" He asked.

I raised my eyebrows. He looked over.

"What?"

"You aren't that stupid. Spill."

"Right now?" He asked.

"No, how about 10 years from now?" Sarcasm came as a second language to me. "Duh."

"Well, it started about 5 months ago. Almost 6." He sat down his pen and faced me.

"What the hell? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, we didn't want everyone to know."

"What kind of excuse is that? We're partners."

He looked at me and tilted his head. "What about you not telling me about you and Lanie?" He questioned. Damn him.

"Well, Lanie and I were not in a relationship, it was just more of an arrangement." He said, trying to get back on track. Our arrangement ended when she called it quits, out of nowhere.

"Arrangement?" His eyebrows shot up and he had a grin on his face.

"Yes." This was awkward. "Dude, we aren't talking about me and Lanie. We're talking about you. So was it serious?"

His grin disappeared. "Um..yeah. It was very serious."

"Very serious? You mean like you loved her or something?"

He smiled. "I still do." He said, tapping the desk with his hands. Love? They were in love with each other and I didn't notice it? What was I so busy with, that it past right by me?

"Love? So she loves you too?" I asked.

"I don't know." He hunched his shoulders. "She did at one time."

"Bro, you know, I don't really go in for this whole sharing your feelings thing." I used quotations, with my fingers. "Why don't you just go see her? Or if you don't want to do that, at least call her."

He shook his head. "I can't, Javi."

"You said, you love her."

"I do."

"Then go make things right. I am sure if you apologize, she will forgive you."

He shook his head. Why did he have to torture himself?

"Why not?"

"I need to fix this Javi. I want to see her so bad. I miss her like you wouldn't believe."

"I believe it." I cut him off. He looked like a wreck. Now that I knew more about what was going on, I knew that he wasn't just a wreck, but someone who had their heart broken. Just like munchkin. That's why she looked so different at lunch the other day. I shook my head, how stupid was I?

"I can't go to her, until I can tell her I caught the person who killed her sister." He sighed. "I have to make it right, Javi." He leaned back in his chair.

"We will, bro." Not only did I say it, but I meant it. We could do this. The only question was, how long would it take before, Beckett, Castle, or Gates found out?


	14. Chapter 14

**Please Review! I love reviews! **

I entered the morgue when I knew Lanie's lunch break would be starting. I decided to drop by and surprise her. I promised her I would come by more often, sadly, I failed to keep that promise.

Lately, I hadn't felt like seeing anyone. Then I remembered that Lanie was the only one who knew about Kevin and I. I figured talking to her about things, might be a good idea. New perspectives were always helpful, right? Today was a perfect day, because I had nothing planned. No lunch plans with Shane. Didn't have any classes, for once. And I would rather be here, talking to a friend than sitting at my apartment until I was ready to leave for work. I just wasn't willing to put myself through that.

I heard voices coming from down the hall. I peeked out of the doorway to see Lanie walking with Beckett and Castle, in tow. Awesome, I would get to see all of them. Hadn't seen them in weeks. Never thought I would have made friends, when I started interning here. I was kind of closed off. I had been that way most of my life. They all found a way to make me open up. I was thankful for that.

Castle had an infectious personality, so it was hard not to get suckered in. Beckett, could be a real fun person, once she opened up and allowed people to see that she had other layers. Javi sort of reminded me of my brother, Drake. Minus, the drug and alcohol addictions. He was easy to joke around with. He didn't take things too seriously. It was bound to happen working so closely with Lanie. She may have been older than me, but that girl could be just as childish as a 17 year old. She loved to gossip. I benefited from that as well. How else would I have known that two of the other ME's I got to work with were cheating on their respective spouses, with each other? Lanie could be a steel trap, but only if she cared about you. Working with her for as long as I did, put my in the bubble of people she cared for.

I walked over to the desk I used to work at and casually leaned back in the chair. I could hear them getting closer and closer.

The first person through the door was Lanie. Her eyes immediately found me. She stopped in her tracks. After a few seconds, I saw a smile spread across her face.

She came over to give me a hug, so I stood up.

"It's about time, you came for a visit." She said, hugging me.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." I hugged her back.

"Mission accomplished." She pulled back with a smile still plastered on her face.

"Cheyenne?" I heard Castle say from behind Lanie. He sounded stunned.

"Hey Castle." I laughed.

"Hey, how have you been? It's been a long time since I have seen you."

"I know. I have just been busy with work and school. Had a few hours before, I had to go to work and wanted to drop by and see Lanie." I looked over to see that Beckett was hiding behind Castle.

"Hey Beckett!" I said. She was definitely being a little standoffish.

"Hi, Cheyenne." She said, coming out from behind Castle.

"Well, sweetie, I have to give them some results, so could you wait here for a second?" Lanie, asked, patting my arm.

"Sure thing." I smiled.

I sat for few minutes alone, texting Shane, who had been checking on me repeatedly ever since I told him that nothing could be done about Tess' case. The constant check ins, were getting old, real fast.

Lanie, Castle and Beckett came back into the room.

"Wish we could stay and catch up." Castle said, coming over to me.

"I know. I will try and come see Alexis when you are actually there." I smiled.

"Yeah, we could have dinner, deal?"

"How could I turn down your cooking?"

"How, indeed." He smiled. "See you later." He walked back over to Beckett, who still wouldn't look at me. "Call Alexis about that dinner." Castle called out.

"I will. Bye, guys."

"Bye." They spoke at the same time.

After telling Lanie about everything that happened between Kevin and I, she sat there, seeming to be in shock. Apparently, she didn't have a clue about what was going on.

"I ruined it, Lanie." I said, twirling the ends of my hair.

"You didn't ruin it. It sounds like Kevin is to blame. How could he bail on you like that?" She shook in her head.

"I lied to him. He had a right to get mad at me."

"What you lied to him about was something that was very personal. How could he expect you to just open up and let everything flow out?"

"Lanie, it wasn't like we had just started seeing each other. I could have told him, but I was scared of what he would think. I convinced myself, that he wouldn't see me different. That he would see reason, but it turns out I was right from the get go. I told him and he bailed." I cleared my throat. "Don't get me wrong, I don't blame him. That was a lot learn in a heated exchange." I got out of the chair and started pacing. I felt like my life was moving in fast forward and I was stuck on pause.

"I should go find him and smack some sense in him." Lanie said, putting her coffee down. "That just doesn't seem like Kevin."

"Smack me, I am the one who ruined it." I groaned. "Lanie, I loved him. I mean, I still do love him. I really can't believe I let him get away."

Her cell beeped, while I tried to stop images of Kevin going through my head. Why did I have to miss him so much?

"Uh oh." She said, looking up from her phone to me.

"What?"

"That was a text from Javi."

"Okay. And?" I was confused.

"He and Kevin, are on their way down here." My body tensed.

"Do I have time to leave?" I asked, just as there was a knock at the door. Shit. If I had an lucky at all, that wouldn't be them.

Lanie, gave me a sympathetic look. "Hey, Lanie." I heard Javi say. Why did God hate me?

"Hey." She replied walking away from me. I kept my back to them.

"Beckett wanted us to see if you get the result back on our vic."

"She already got them." She replied.

"Damn, she could have filled us in."

I put my head down and tried focus on my making myself invisible. It was a loss cause. I knew they saw me, right when they came in. Living people are hard to miss in a morgue.

"Munchkin?" I sighed. This was going to be awkward. I slightly turned around.

"Hey, Javi."

"What are you doing here?" He asked, coming closer.

"I came to surprise Lanie." I tried to keep my head down.

"It's good to see you back here."

"Yeah, I didn't think it was possible, but I actually missed being here."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lanie, stared me down.

"I meant the morgue, Lanie, not you." I smiled.

"You better." I tool a chance and looked in the direction of Kevin. I didn't know what to find. Had he left? Would he be there, giving me an angry glare? I didn't expect that what I found. He was looking at me. He didn't look mad, but he did look sad. I quickly looked back to Lanie and Javi. That look made me feel like I had just got hit in the stomach.

Knowing this feeling probably wasn't going to leave. I decided to make an exit. "Well, I should go." I grabbed my jacket.

"Already?"

"Yeah, I have to head to work." I slipped my jacket on.

"Call me sometime, we can have lunch, somewhere besides here." Lanie said, giving me a hug. "I'll talk some sense in him." She whispered, before letting me go. I smile, despite that fact that I didn't want her to get involved. It could only make matters worse.

I turned to leave, but Javi blocked me. "What am I chopped liver?" He said, before holding out his arms. I smiled and gave him a small hug.

"See you around." I said.

"Hope so. Don't disappear on us." He warned, jokingly.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I looked over to see Kevin still standing there. What was the protocol? Say goodbye? Give a smile? Ignore? I didn't want to over step or try to force him into a situation he didn't want. I wanted to say so many things to him. I wanted him to know that I was sorry and that I missed him. I wanted him to know that I still loved him. I had to respectful of him, though. I shook my head. What did it have to so complicated?

I wanted to leave as soon as possible. No need to drag this awkwardness out. I walked by him and decided to ignore him, which was very difficult. Just by walking bay him, I felt my body instinctually, pivot towards him. I gained control and kept walking.

Before I reached the door, I was stopped by a voice. A voice I had been dying to hear. It was magical.

"Bye, Cheyenne." His voice sounded forced and unsure.

I took a deep breath. "Bye." I choked out, before finally exiting the room.

Kevin's POV...

"Brian Schultz?" Javi, asked leaning over my shoulder looking at the computer.

"That's him. That's our guy." I couldn't believe after all this time, I was staring at the face of the murderer, we let slip by us.

"Who is he?" Javi, asked, grabbing his chair and sitting next to me.

"Brain Schultz, once dated Tessa. Not for very long according, to Casey Stephens, Tessa's old high school friend."

"How did you find out about this Casey Stephens?" He asked.

"I called Cheyenne's brother, Shane. That was a fun conversation." I should have known before I called that he wouldn't be the happiest to hear from me. "I told him about us working the case and that he couldn't tell Cheyenne about it, until it was settled."

"How did he take that?"

"After threatening to make my life a living hell, if I hurt Cheyenne anymore than I had, he seemed to be cooperative."

"Are you sure, bro?" He asked, pointing to screen.

"I sure hope so. The night, Tessa was killed, she was supposed to meeting up with her boyfriend. According to Casey, Brian didn't like the idea of her moving on from him so fast." I was hoping this wasn't just another dead end. I needed this to be the guy. There was too much at stake.

"He killed her out of jealousy?" Javi, didn't seemed convinced.

"People kill over stupid things every day." I countered.

He leaned back and sighed. "Should we go talk to Gates?"

"I don't know. She might put the brakes on this."

"Not if we bring her good evidence. If we go in there, we have to do a damn good job at selling this."

"I know." I couldn't take my eyes on the screen. I needed to hide from Gates, how much this meant to me. I needed to detach myself.

"You ready, bro?"

I nodded, giving his picture a final glance. "Yeah, lets get this done." I jumped up and tried my best to loosen up. Gates would be able to see right through me, I needed to be prepared for whatever she threw my way.


	15. Chapter 15

**Here it is! The final chapter! I'm really bummed its over, but I'm thrilled got that I got to share it! **

Kevin's POV...

It felt good, sitting in the observation room, watching a panicked Schultz. I'd rather have been in the interrogation room, face to face with him, but Javi was right. I was too invested in this. I needed to stay away. I would lose my temper and nothing would get resolved. It felt good, because I knew this was the guy. It was a gut feeling. I learned a long time ago, to follow my gut. It got me out of a lot of jams, in the past.

Gates made her way into the room.

"We got anything yet?" She asked.

"No. Espo is working him pretty good. We'll have something soon."

"You better, Detective." She gave me a hard stare, before exiting.

She wasn't easy to persuade into letting us do this. It took every trick Javi and I had up our sleeves. She reluctantly allowed us to follow up on this lead, not that she wouldn't make us pay in some other way, at a later time. Any punishment would be worth it.

"So you're going to tell me that Tessa going out with another guy, a week after you broke up, didn't hurt?" Javi leaned forward in the chair.

"Of course, it hurt, but I left it alone."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to be one of _**those**_ guys."

"Look, we had a source tell us that you would stalk her. " Javi got up.

That changed the mood. "It wasn't like that." Schultz claimed.

"What was it like then, huh?"

"I was following her, because I wanted to make sure she would get home safe." His face turned to a darker shade of red than it already was.

Okay, Javi, go in for the kill! I nearly banged on the mirror.

"Safe? Why wouldn't she be safe?"

"I just wanted to protect her?"

"Protect her? From what?"

"That guy!" He raised his voice.

Here it was. He was going to spill.

"What guy?"

"The guy she was with. Cameron."

"Her new boyfriend, Cameron?"

Brian sat back in the chair and sighed.

"He didn't deserve her!"

"Did anything happen?" Javi asked, keeping his cool. I would have been bouncing off the walls.

"No. He cheated on, like, every girl he dated. I tried to tell Tess, but she wouldn't listen."

"So?"

"So I had to try and get her back."

"And when that didn't work?" Javi was a genius, this guy was just handing everything over, seeming not to notice.

"So they were going on a date and I was trying to stop her from going. She was going to get hurt. He was going to say whatever he could, to get what he wanted and she was going to give it to him!" I saw tears, appearing in his eyes.

"And so you tried to stop her from going, but she wouldn't listen. There was a struggle between the two of you, right?" I wasn't sure, but I thought I could see a smirk on Javi's face.

He looked up, but didn't say anything. He had to know he slipped up.

"She fought, but you were bigger than her, so it didn't take much for you to control her."

Javi grabbed the folder on the table. He laid two pictures in front of Brian. I couldn't look at those pictures of Tessa again. My eyes stayed glued to his, just like Espo's did.

"You couldn't have her, so nobody could, right?" Javi asked, as Brian sat up and looked at the pictures. He almost looked genuinely shocked. "You knew that you would never get her back, so you were going to make sure nobody would ever be able to have, what you thought was yours."

"I..." Schultz started to speak. Here it was. "I didn't mean to do it."

"To do what? Break her neck?" Javi slammed his fists on the table.

"I just wanted her to stay with me! I wanted her! She just kept trying to get away and I couldn't just let her go!"

"So what did you do?" Javi asked, knowing it was over. I, however, wouldn't be satisfied until I had a confession. Javi turned and gave me a nod.

"I didn't want to hurt her, but she kept screaming." He burst into tears. "I needed her to just shut up!" He put his head down. He knew it was over. "I did it."

"Did what?" Javi pushed.

"I killed her!" He ran his hands over his face.

"We're going to need a full confession." Javi tapped the table. With that tap, I could finally breathe. It was over. I grabbed my jacket and left the room.

An hour later, I was sitting at my desk, unable to do any work.

"Bro, we got it!" Javi came up and smacked me on the arm. He startled me, but didn't care in that moment.

"We did?"

"Full confession." He nodded.

"Thanks, for that bro, you were on fire."

"Hey, I knew how much was riding on this." He turned less serious. "Plus, I'm like a damn ninja in there man, nobody gets past me." I couldn't help the laughter that had come over me.

"Odd reaction, It wasn't that funny."

"Just happy man. I'm just happy." I spoke between fits of laughter.

"Detectives, in my office." Gates called out. Even she couldn't ruin my high.

Cheyenne's POV...

"Come on! He's really cute. You would like him." Alexis was determined to get me to go out with her friend, Josh. It was all part of a ploy, so she and her boyfriend would have another couple to double with. "He thinks you are really cute." She added, nudging my arm.

"Wait. How does he know what I look like?"

"I have like a thousand pictures of us on my phone."

I needed to stop this, before she get her hopes up even more.

"Alexis," I put on my best serious face. "I bet Josh is a great guy and cute, but." She let out a sigh. "I'm just not interested."

"Why not?" She whined.

"I just got out of a relationship."

"With who?" She asked. No way I was going to tell her. I didn't want to share my personal failings.

"It doesn't matter. When I'm ready to start dating, I will let you know and you can set me up with whoever you want, okay?"

She groaned, but nodded.

The next 20 minutes was filled with Alexis telling me how much she wanted to go back to Costa Rica. Whenever she would talk about all the things she had done, I couldn't help but feel inferior. She was way more ambitious than I ever was.

I know she would never want me to feel this way on purpose, but my insecurities always found a way to bubble up.

I left, so I would have enough time to shower before going to work. It was nice to be able to get back into my rhythm. I stumbled around for awhile after things with Kevin. Now I was sleeping better and feeling more energized. My mood at work had shifted in the right direction, which quite a few people pointed out. I was finally getting the handle of things again. I wasn't completely better, but I had a feeling I wouldn't be okay for awhile. After Alexis tried to set me up, I realized even thinking about dating someone else, caused my heart to ache. I wasn't ready to move on, but I knew I would someday and that was enough for me right now.

I was showering when I heard a knock at the door. This surprised me, I wasn't expecting anyone. I quickly rinsed my hair and slipped on a robe.

I tossed up the hood of the robe to hide my wet hair and tied it closed. When I unlocked the door, I opened it only halfway. Internally, I jumped when I saw the other person standing there. He had a weary look on his face, as if he was still deciding whether to stay or make a run for it. After a few more seconds, I was able to gain some control.

"Hey." I squeaked out. I knew my face was red, because I felt my cheeks getting hot. I looked down trying to hide my reaction.

"Hi." He said.

"Um, do you want to come in?" I asked, in a more steady voice.

"Only if you want me to."

I nodded, granting him access.

Once he came in, I noticed an envelope in his hand.

"Can I get you anything to drink?"

"No, thank you." He surveyed the room. "You painted."

I looked at the walls. I forgot about painting. "Yeah, I thought it could use some color."

"I like it." He hadn't looked me in the eyes, since entering the apartment.

"Thanks." Ah, small talk, you will be the death of me. "So can I help you with anything?" I asked trying to get the objective of his unexpected visit.

"Yeah." He said, finally making eye contact. I was glad to find bright eyes looking at me, unlike the last time I saw him here. "Look, the last time we talked, I said some terrible things." I shook my head trying not to remember. "I just wanted to tell you how bad I feel." I moved a step forward and held up my hand.

"Don't. I lied to you, about something important. You don't owe me an apology. I owe you one." I took a deep breath. "I am so.." I was cut off.

"Don't apologize. I know why you didn't tell me and if the shoe were on the other foot, I might have done the same thing."

"I got you involved in something without giving you all the details. I'm very so..." I was cut off again.

"I know, but none of that matters. Plus, I was already involved, you just didn't know."

"Still, I lied to you about who I was. That's not something you should just overlook." I cleared my throat. Here goes my third attempt. "I'm.."

"I kn..." I cut him off. Two could play this game.

"Kevin, why wont you just let me apologize?"

"You don't need to. I got angry for no reason. I guess I was just in shock and reacted poorly. I'm not mad at you anymore. I never truly was." He said, then looked at the floor.

"You aren't mad at me?" I was confused.

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"I didn't tell you about everything. I didn't tell you about the real me."

He shook his head. "I know the real you. Just because you cut, dye, and straighten your hair and change your last name, doesn't change who you are as a person."

Did he always have a way of making everything sound better than it was?

I didn't know what to say about that, so I changed the subject.

"What's in the envelope?" It obviously had something to do with me. Why else would he bring it with him?

He looked at the envelope and then back to me. He had a look of uncertainty.

"Can we sit down, first?"

I nodded and sat down at the kitchen table. I was feeling uncomfortable, because I didn't have anything on under the robe, I was wearing. He probably knew I wasn't wearing anything. Oh my god. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling paranoid, it might pop open.

"I have something to tell you. It's pretty big news, so I am just going to tell you one piece of information at a time."

"Why?"

"There's a lot to explain. It will be a lot easier."

I nodded.

He cleared his throat. "Okay. Well, first off, I felt really bad about messing up your sister's case, so I did something a little crazy." I sat up.

"What did you do?"

"I opened the case."

I shook my head. "No. You told me you couldn't do that, if there wasn't any new evidence." What was he saying?

"We aren't supposed to, but I did it anyways."

"What?" I couldn't believe he would do something like that.

"Can't you get into a lot of trouble?"

His answer came in the form of a nod. "I was hiding it pretty well, until Javi caught me."

"He didn't get you into trouble, right?" That didn't sound like Javi.

"No. Once he found out what I was up to. He wanted to help."

"Wow."

"Don't say that yet, there's more."

"Okay. What?"

"Do you know a Brian Schultz?" A ding went off in my head.

"Uh, yeah. He was Tess' high school boyfriend. She ended up dumping him." I had a mental image of them making out on my bed. They always did. I shook my head, hoping that, much like etch a sketch, it would disappear. "Wait. How do you know his name?" I asked.

"Well when I went back into her past. I found out that she had a friend, Casey Stephens, so I called her and she told me about him and how after Tess broke up with him, he became obsessed with her."

I nodded. That was true. Guy was creepy.

"Okay. And?"

"We tracked him down and got him to talk."

"Okay? What does that mean?"

He reached his hand across the table and grabbed my hand. If I wasn't so entranced in what we were talking about, I'm sure I would have over analyzed that, but in that moment, I didn't care.

He rubbed his thumb, smoothly over mine.

"Javi interrogated him and he broke. He told us everything." I had a feeling I knew what he was talking about, but I wasn't going to look stupid.

"I need you to flat out say it." I said, looking at the table.

"Brian Schultz confessed to killing Tessa." His hand didn't leave mine.

"What...Are...you...Are you sure?" I struggled.

"Yes." He staring into my eyes.

This huge weight had been lifted. I had no time to prepare for this. I could almost cry, but I didn't want to in front of him. I didn't know what I should do or think. Should I be sad that her ex boyfriend killed her? Should I be happy that he was no going to be put away? I stood up from the table and started pacing. My hands found their way up into my hair. Was this it? Was it finally all over? Could I tell Shane and Drake? What would they think? I made myself calm down. I was thinking way too hard about this. I needed to slow everything down.

"Why?" I asked him, when I finally calmed my mind.

"Why, what?"

"Why did he do it?"

"He was jealous. She got a new boyfriend and he couldn't handle it." I shook my head. I knew it didn't matter why she was killed. It wouldn't bring her back.

"That's.." I couldn't find the correct word. I looked over to him. He was staring right back at me."Why?"

"Why, what?"

"Why did you do this?"

"Open the case back up?"

I nodded.

"I needed to do it, for you, for her." He ran his hand through his hair, which I hadn't noticed until now, had grown. "I failed a lot of people five years ago and I had to make it right." He kept his eyes on me the whole time. I sighed and walked back to the table.

I shook my head. Why did he have to be so hard on himself? Not too long ago, I was so mad at him, but if I could see reason, why couldn't he? Detectives couldn't work miracles, well some of them couldn't. "You know, I had just got to the point where I could accept that she would never get justice." I let out a small laugh. "You always surprise me."

"Well it wasn't just me. Javi helped out a lot."

I nodded. "Yeah, I will have to call him later." I walked a little closer to him.

He saw me move closer and he sat up straighter. Clearly he wasn't sure what to do.

I knew in the back of my head, that what I was about to do was very bold and unlike me, but I didn't care in that moment. I had missed him so much. I wanted to be close to him. I wanted to bee able to touch him.

I just felt grateful, happy, and relieved. I felt at peace and that was all thanks to the guy right in front of me. Javi may have helped, but Kevin was one who pushed for it. Without him, Brian Schultz would still be out there.

I was standing right next to him before, I sat down on his lap. I noticed his body tense. I felt a little sad that he didn't feel comfortable around me.

"Should I get up?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"Then why are you acting like you want me to?"

He looked at me and pursed his lips. "You can't tell?" He asked.

"No." He moved from beneath me and soon, I felt exactly what he was talking about. He saw my reaction, which wasn't exactly subtle.

"Yeah, I pretty much been fighting that since I walked through the door." He gave a nervous laugh. "Now you sitting on my lap, isn't exactly helping the situation."

"How so?"

He tilted his head at me. "Gee, I wonder." He pointed to my robe. Suddenly, I remembered I wasn't in actual clothing. My mouth dropped.

"Oh. I'm so sorry." I went to stand up, but he pulled me back down.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing." He whispered. Suddenly all my courage was tapped out. Luckily, I didn't need to worry about it, Kevin seemed willing to take the wheel. He wrapped his arms around me tight. It felt good to have his arms around me again. "I missed this." He said, pulling me closer to his chest.

"I know what you mean." I laid my hand on his chest and closed my eyes.

"I thought I would never get to touch you ever again."

I sat up and turned to face him. "You can touch me, whenever you want." His eyes were brighter now, than they were earlier. They reminded me of looking at a cloudless sky.

He looked at me for a few seconds, before putting his hand on the back of my neck. He moved forward. Our lips were centimeters apart. "Is this okay?" He asked, in a soft whisper. I couldn't speak at this point. I wrapped my arms around his neck before pressing our lips together.

As soon as our lips met, it felt like nothing had changed between us. The spark was back, maybe it never left. He pulled me closer to him. I could feel him poking through his pants. I ran my hands through his hair as I nipped his bottom lip. He let out the sexiest gasp.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" He asked breathless.

"Do you don't want to?" I asked, starting to feel insecure.

He put his hand on my cheek. "Of course. I just don't want you to feel like you have to do this."

"Why would I think that?"

"Javi and I solved the case, maybe you feel like you have to show your gratitude by doing this."

I tried hard not to laugh. "Kevin, you really think I would do something like that?"

"No. I just.."

"Don't get me wrong, I can't believe you solved her case. You went through a lot to do it. I am very thankful that you did it, but I want this..." I pointed to the both of us." because I have missed you. I have wanted to see and call you, but I was afraid that you wouldn't want to hear from me, so I stayed away. I want this because I love you." Well there it was. I just put it out there. I didn't care if he still loved me or not, but I needed him to know that I still loved him.

He stared at me in what I could only describe as wonderment. "You love me?" He asked, seeming genuinely surprised.

"I never stopped loving you." I stood up, feeling like we needed to talk. "Why would you think that?"

"I hurt you, though."

"I was in shock Kevin. I had just found out that the people I had so much anger and resentment towards, were the same people who I saw almost everyday for months. The same people I was in love with." I sighed. "I didn't know how to process that at the time."

"I know, but I just figured after we had the argument, that all those feelings went out the window." What was he saying?

"Is that what happened with you? Did your feelings fade away?" I asked and tried to brace myself for the answer.

He stood up and walked towards me. A new look appeared on his face that I couldn't place. He backed me up against the wall. If this action was done by anyone else, I might have jumped or panicked, but with him, I felt completely safe. I knew nothing bad would ever happen to me, as long as he was with me.

He pressed his body against me. His erection, was more noticeable than before. He lifted me, so I could wrap my legs around his waist.

"What do you think?" He asked, before kissing me. I moaned into the kiss, never wanting it to end. This was all I wanted. He stopped, but only for a moment as he made his way to my neck. I nipped and licked up and down my neck.

"I love you, more than you will ever know." His lips captured mine. I couldn't describe how I was feeling in that moment. It was nothing I ever felt before. So many good things were happening all at once. I had all the answers I needed. I was feeling for the first time in my life, completely content. Nothing was wrong. No heartache, just relief.

His hand moved down my side until he found his way to my robe. He untied it. There was no turning back now. His rubbed his hands up down my sides. I felt like I couldn't breathe. His hand found it way to my breast. A moan excaped me. His tongue trailed from my neck, down to my breast. I closed my eyes, wanting to remember and truly appreciate every sensation going through my body. His tongue went over my nipple a few times. I was so happy my legs were wrapped around him. I knew if I was standing right now, they would have buckled.

He pulled away for some reason. "You gonna get that?" He asked.

"Get what?" I asked, out of breathe.

"Your phone." I stared at him confused, until I heard it ringing. I looked at the clock on the stove. Damn. I had to be to work in less than an hour. I sighed.

"What's the matter?"

"I have to go to work."

He pulled completely away. "Oh." I loosened my legs and used him to steady myself, until I knew I wouldn't fall.

"Yeah, I know. It's terrible timing."

"Well, its my fault. Probably should have been more respectful."

"Respectful?" I asked, looking up at him. "You should never feel the need to apologize for that." I laughed.

"So, uh, what do we do know?"

I couldn't believe I had to walk away from him. "Rain check?"

"Anytime." He smiled. God, his smile made me melt.

"Tonight? I get off work at 11."

"I'll be here." He moved closer to me and leaned down the kiss me. He cupped my face with his hands. They were so warm. "I love you." He said, when he broke the kiss.

"I love you, too." I smiled, before kissing him.

"I guess I should go." He pulled away and looked down. "Uh, you might want to tie that." He pointed to my robe, which was now open. "Don't think I will be able to leave, if you don't."

I laughed and tied it closed again. He backed away and we walked towards the door. I saw the envelope he brought on the table.

"Wait, isn't this yours?" I asked, picking it up.

"No. It's yours. It's a copy of Schultz's confession. You might not want to read it. It's more for symbolic purposes."

"Am I allowed to have a copy of this?"

"No." He shook his head.

"I don't want you to get it trouble."

"Nobody will know, plus when it comes to you, I don't really care about rules, as I have proven." He smiled.

"Thank you." I said, before hugging him.

"Don't mention it." He wrapped his arms around me tight. I could stay this way forever. I loved him more than anything and to top it off, he gave me the best thing anyone could ever give me. Peace.

The End.

**Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciated all of them! Hope you enjoyed!**

**Special thanks to WOML! This story would have been filled with errors if not for your expertise! **


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